After sitting through “If I Stay,” Hollywood’s newest syrupy-sweet teen romance,  audience members will most likely wish they didn’t.

Based on Gayle Forman’s young adult best-seller, “If I Stay” introduces us to a talented, classical cellist named Mia (Chloe Grace Moretz) as she struggles to fit in with her rebellious, yet devoted, punk rock family and grapples with choosing between her dream of attending Juilliard and a life with her loving, rocker boyfriend Adam (Jamie Blackley). However, after a car crash tears her away from her family, the orphaned, comatose Mia is caught between life and death as she chooses whether she should leave her life behind or stay and face an “uncertain” future.

Despite its semi-interesting and seemingly moving storyline, “If I Stay” is destined for failure. Its inorganic overacting lacks any real hint of emotional resonance, resulting in a movie that manipulates its viewers by shamelessly wringing out their tears, instead of genuinely creating a link between the characters and the audience members.

Perhaps this is also because the film’s over-idealized characters are nearly impossible to connect to. For example, the parents chill, loving attitude make them intolerably perfect, and the only flaws that Mia and Adam carry are those that are automatically etched into their bland stereotypes. Therefore, the characters of “If I Stay,” simply don’t feel real or human. And although the director’s attempt to show us the happiness that Mia once had in her life by showcasing her perfect family is understandable, it turns “If I Stay” from a movie into a dull, one-sided funeral sermon.

The movie also lacks any real conflict, so much so that moviegoers must strain to see the heroine’s dilemma. Plus, Mia’s choice is so painfully predictable that it sucks the movie dry of all of its dramatic tension.

Additionally, “If I Stay” handles profound issues of mortality so clumsily that the whole film turns into a heavy-handed, superficial mess. And its vapid, banal dialogue is cheesy to the point of queazy.

However, Chloe Grace Moretz’s mature performance stands out against the childish, muddled chaos around her. (Also, props to her for actually looking like she can play a cello.) Regardless, her feeble attempts to inject any sort of authentic feeling into “If I Stay,” are fruitless as her talent is wasted and her character’s relationship with the brooding Adam seems hopelessly engineered. And I don’t even want to think about the film’s last-ditch efforts to develop Mia and Adam’s contrived romance with an overdose of nauseating montages, which only work to perpetuate their relationship’s inorganic feel.

Thus, “If I Stay” is hopelessly unimaginative, melodramatic, graceless and underwhelming. But as another feeble attempt at resuscitating the suffocating young adult film industry, “If I Stay” may appeal to a few swooning 12-year-olds, despite its lack of solid characters, plot or romance.

My conclusion: 4/10