We saw Still Alice two nights ago. Ive waited to put my thoughts into words so I could think about the film a bit. Is a good film? Yes, without a doubt? Is it an important film? Definitely. Would I see it again? I dont know if I could. Its a beautiful picture graced by on of Julianne Moores finest performances. Nuanced, sensitive and so human. Alec Baldwin also shines. I laughed and cried. I felt nauseated early on the film as Alice is given her prognosis and then her memory begins to fail. I also experienced the same tummy queasiness during last years Dallas Buyers Club. I find myself feeling incredible empathy for characters on screen facing terminal disease and I know its because I think often of my own mortality now that Ive reached my mid-40s. And I also lost a parent at 18 to a prolonged cancer battle. Huge kudos to writers/directors/life partners Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland for their fine work and for tackling not only Alzheimers but also putting an audience in the shoes of someone given such a health forecast. Their touch is so delicate, never intrusive but painfully stark and so human, for lack of a better word. Ms. Moore is one of my favorite actresses and she is fine form here. Shes the front runner this awards season and theres no doubt shell pick up the gold next month. And its well deserved - I found my mouth hanging open while watching her. And she did this to me in Far From Heaven. I think the film also really hit me hard as we had watched the first episode of the Alzheimers Project on HBO earlier in the week. We were both devastated and freaked out. The thought of losing the thing which makes me ME is so frightening. And to even imagine Elizabeth Hedman ever experiencing this is horrifying - shes the most brilliant person Ive ever known. Talk about a brilliant mind as work as a musician, thinker and everything else. This is a movie filled with grace, intelligence and poignancy. Its so similar in tone to The Doctor from the early 90s. I highly recommend Still Alice, but be prepared to be taken on a journey which is both scary and but alive with that thing which makes us so unique: our humanity. imdb/title/tt3316960/
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 04:55:44 +0000
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