Still Alice
Still Alice
PG-13 | 05 December 2014 (USA)
Still Alice Trailers

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested.

Reviews
john robinson (Fizzle_Talks)

I found the premise intriguing, and it's something I'm surprised hasn't been tackled so often on the big screen. Alzheimer's is an incredibly tragic disease that even to this day is poorly understood, and it seems an obvious go-to to base a story around. The thought of losing memories and cognitive abilities is one that terrifies me and many others, and is undoubtedly an incredible struggle to those who suffer from it.This is kind of a hard film to watch as it goes on as the titular Alice goes through the degenerative effects of her unfortunate condition. I personally don't have much experience in dealing with people with Alzheimer's or Dementia, but from what little experience I do have I felt Julianne Moore's performance encapsulates what this disease does to those affected and those close to them. As the film goes on, she gets less mentally stable, more disoriented, more forgetful, and more depressed as her condition gets worse, and this is even juxtaposed as she leaves a video memo for herself in the future to commit suicide should her condition get worse, and the difference between her in the memo and her in the present is clear as day. She becomes an absolute wreck by the end of it, and it's a shame since there's really nothing that can be done to fix it. Many big issues are tackled throughout the story, such as Alice's guilt upon learning she has passed her condition on to her daughter, even though she had no way of knowing she could have had this rare version of Alzheimer's considering her parents had died too early on for it to have been known to her. There is excellent chemistry between Alice and her daughter Lydia throughout the film, and the film ends with a touching, even if bittersweet moment between them. Just about anything that can go wrong does go wrong throughout the story, yet it remains realistically hopeful while diving into seriously dark themes.I would highly recommend this film to those who like drama. It's a very good film in general with an interesting premise, talented actors, and effective execution, and a fulfilling story that's handled with proper care.

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merelyaninnuendo

Still AliceThere are some tracks that they could have easily chosen to thicken the plot or add some twists and enter the dark zone but they keep it light here for the most part of it and sums it up to 'hope' in the end. Still Alice is a feature that doesn't come often, it offers everything expected and some more in addition to a heart in the centre of it pumping all the way through in each and every frame of it keeping it alive and soothing over its short runtime of around 100 minutes. The writer-director duo Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland are magnificent and dedicated to the last word of their work which is visible completely onto the screen. But in the end, it's all in Julianne Moore's side of the show and boy what a show she has to offer, she is flat out brilliant and heartwarming along with a great supporting cast like Kirsten Stewart and Alec Baldwin. Still Alice has fast pace natured script, intriguing and gripping screenplay, majestic performances and an immortal soul in it.

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jackVSjack

I had this film for a long time before I watched it. When I heard about it I wanted to go see it. But knowing the subject matter I wasn't crazy about the certainty of crying non stop in the cinema.I don't personally know anybody that had or has Alzheimer's. So I can only view this film through my imagined idea of what it would be like to be part of a family that this terrible condition touches. From my narrow viewpoint I think that the cast and crew did a fantastic job in demonstrating in a more passive way how it affects the family. Their part of the story is important but the film doesn't go out of its way to over dramatise every possible conflict that will arise from living with someone that has Alzheimer's.I also felt and rightly so, that the more important point was to focus on Alice herself. Julianne Moore in my mind does a fantastic job in taking the viewer along with her.I passed over this film numerous times knowing how it would make me feel. Ever since I saw Iris I knew from past experience that this would be a difficult film to watch. While Iris brought a more turbulent narrative to the screen and reflected how monstrous and destructive Alzheimer's is. Still Alice offered an additional focus. How it can hit a younger person and how devastatingly quickly it can dismantle a mind.I have watched it now and can now recommend it to others. But I doubt I will ever watch it again.Not because it isn't an impressive piece of story telling! But because in the words of Chandler Bing. "It's like someone literally wrote down my worst nightmare and then charged me $32 to see it!"It is important for these stories to be told.

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foodie03

This is a beautiful film. I was blown away by emotional performances of the actresses. Alice has had a nice and happy life before she gets Alzheimer, which rips everything that she has acquired through her life from her. The disease leads to her uncomfortable life, and she is not able to be like her. That is the thing we are the most afraid of. I t is important for us to live by ourselves independently and like our selves. Alice gets to have a weak recognition about who she is and people around her, which makes her suffer from it. However, the most stunning scene is the warm support from her family in this hard situation. No matter how worse Alice's condition is getting, they always stay with her. I was impressed with her family. Besides, this film uses a beautiful representation of a butterfly as a short life, which reminds us of a short life as same as Alice. Meanwhile, the camera work is reflected by Alice's condition. As she got worse, the monitor gets vague. We can see things as same as Alice. The last scene also moved my heart.

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