Still Alice Review

..when you start to loose yourself...

Still Alice Review – Kristen Steward & Alec Baldwin…hmm…ooook…wait Julianne Moore? Ok I’m sold!

Family bonding time

I’ve heard people say that life begins at forty (40) but what if it starts to crumble when you turn fifty (50) because you are diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease? Furthermore when you are an expert in linguistics who has trouble articulating yourself as the disease progresses? That’s the situation faced by Alice Howland (Julianne Moore) when she starts to forget simple words and being unable to keep up with her daily schedule. As much as she tries keeping her rationality, we get to witness how this crippling illness changes a person. Thank goodness for her supportive family that stands by her with hope that Alice maybe drifting away but to them she is Still Alice.  

When she made this speech....
Dr. Alice Howland: Good morning. It's an honor to be here. The poet Elizabeth Bishoponce wrote: 'the Art of Losing isn't hard to master: so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster.' I'm not a poet, I am a person living with Early Onset Alzheimer's, and as that person I find myself learning the art of losing every day. Losing my bearings, losing objects, losing sleep, but mostly losing memories.

Julianne Moore…this women…there’s something about her…something special that word can’t explain. I was so bummed when her three previous Oscar nominations for "Boogie Nights," "Far from Heaven," and "The Hours" didn’t land her the golden statue but guess what? Fourth time is the charm when she flashed her electrifying smile as the Best Actress winner for this flick! Do I even need to explain myself about her acting after this? Surprisingly…both Kristen and Alec also gave one of their best performances to date in my opinion. The movie is not a made up story as there are real family out there facing this situation when their loved are caught off guard by this disorder. It’s really up to the individual person to either stand by or leave the patient.  

...then this finally happened!!! 

I can’t imagine what I would do if I was faced with condition…either as a patient or someone close to the patient. Can you imagine what would you do?

Trivia

• Co-director Richard Glatzer suffers from ALS and can't speak. So, he directed the film using a 'text to speech' app on an iPad.