Y/A Film "Every Day" Has a Sensitive Insightful Message that is too Lah Lah Even for LA

The young adult film aimed at teens & preteens is too preachy & too pretentious to give any redeeming qualities.  However, there's a lot to be said for its young lead actress.  And, the premise itself was potentially promising.   A high school student, Rhiannon (a convincing Angourie Rice) finds herself befriended by a friendly but freakish spirit that inhabits a new body Every Day.  There are some constraints to this chimera.  The body snatching persona can only possess the person's body (& mind) for 24 hours.  There are several imposed restrictions.  A, the name it calls itself, cannot stray very far away and B, its age must be in the teen range.  Rice (b Australia '01) is so likable as A's only confidant & comrade you care what her future will look like until the changeling, ET, Yoda...yaddah yaddah character study grows old.  Dir. Michael Sucsy (b Amer 1973) is best known for the Emmy nominated TV movie "Grey Gardens".  "Grey Gardens" is based on two elderly real life eccentric women living in squalor.  EVERY DAY is a totally different genre.  It's made for adolescents and perhaps meant as a serious young love story and virtuous dissection of tolerance.  The fun of this fantasy wears thin after Rhianan is convinced of A's incredulous multi-amorphous body snatching abilities.  While A explains the advantages of accessing the physique & mindset of multitudes of individuals, A notes the gained insight  "what makes everyone different makes everyone the same."  "But doesn't that get lonely?" asks the sensible but susceptible "Rhi".  The platitudes become overbearing and the day A & Rhi have a body/mind sharing experience is too much to bear.  It all gets too Lah Lah even for the LA mindset.  But, I'm part of the over the hill set; way past remembering what it feels like to be young (& dumb, I mean innocent).  The big takeaway comes from Rhi.  Rhi's  family consists of a father whose had a manic, debilitating episode, a mother (Maria Bello, why she took this role is a mystery) is resentful & immeshed in an affair and an older sister  (Debby Ryan) who adds some spark to the mix.  Rhi sagaciously says to her mom "We can't know what it's like to love someone who changes. We can only grow closer or further apart. Grow closer" Rhi requests of her mom (a mostly dishelved looking Bello).  Perhaps, the simplest but most meaningful message came from a sign in the bedroom belonging to the young man meant to be Rhi' soulmate all along "Kindness can accomplish much".  I hate to pain this film as solely flimsy and thanks to the fine cast of young actors especially Rice and Justin Smith (who plays her best/worst boyfriend) there are some redeeming qualities.  Far better films of a similar genre are "Being John Malkovich" for adults and "Beautiful Creatures" for teens.