Medical science can never cure every single fatal disease for one simple reason: Hollywood can always invent a new one.  (Case in point: “Contagion.”) . Filmdom needs those heartbreaking diseases for its little romantic sub-genre based on the female lead having an illness that will kill her.  The latest of these is “Restless”  with Mia Wasikowska.  From the trailer (see below), it looks like “A Walk to Remember”  (girl has a fatal disease) meets “Charlie St. Cloud”  (guy has a friendly ghost) meets “Harold and Maude” (guy likes funerals.) The film hasn't been released in many cities yet, but I'm intrigued, if for no other reason than Wasikowska’s  fine performances in “The Kids are Alright” and “Jane Eyre.”  If it’s true to the sub-genre, he’ll have a bad side, but will be redeemed by her love. For now, I’ll just leave you with a short list of a few other movies of this genre and the trailer for “Restless.”

“Autumn in New York”  (2000) – This movie romance combines the May-December obstacle and the Upstairs-Downstairs complication with a dead-end romance between the doomed Winona Ryder character and the one played by Richard Gere. ✰✰✰ 

“A Walk to Remember”  (2002) – What can I say? The Chick Flick Guy is a sucker for Mandy Moore. Bad boy falls for good Christian girl who believes in him. They'll always have the stars. ✰✰✰

“Love and Other Drugs” (2010) - Another confession (and spoiler): She (Anne Hathaway)  doesn’t actually die from her Parkinson’s in the end. There's more humor in this and yet it's more emotionally satisfying than the other two. ✰✰✰✰