Sandy Kenyon reviews 'Miss You Already'

NEW YORK (WABC) -- A new film hitting theaters this weekend looks at cancer through the lens of a long friendship.

"Miss You Already" is about Milly and Jess, who met as girls and become adults together, but their world is rocked when one of them gets sick.

It came about because one star reached out the other, a woman she barely knew. Toni Collette, who was already on board, sent Drew Barrymore a personal letter.

"Well, I really wanted her to play Jess, and I kind of talked about why she was right for it," Collette said. "I mean Drew, she emanates warmth, and she's such a girl's girl. I mean if anyone wants a best friend, I mean, what better best friend could you have?"

Camaraderie was crucial while making this emotional tale. Milly is married with two children and facing breast cancer, while Barrymore's character is expecting her first child. In real life, the star got the script right after giving birth to her second.

"I read the script with my baby in my arms, and turning the pages over and feeding my daughter, my other daughter in her high chair," she said. "And I was so moved by this story about what lifelong friendship."

Both stars have made big Hollywood productions, but this is a much more intimate film made more rapidly, and both agreed that served the material well.

"I made it for my daughters, in the future and for women watching it," Barrymore said. "And to be with Toni, because this was something that was one of the most honest, cool, amazing portrayals of what it's like to have a lifelong girlfriend."

It is tough to watch at times, especially during the terminal stages of Milly's cancer, but their fine performances make "Miss You Already" worthwhile.