Thoughts on the movie 'Still Alice'

On Monday afternoon we went to see the movie 'Still Alice' written and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland and based on Lisa Genova's novel of the same name.  It stars Julianne Moore as Dr. Alice Howland, a Columbia professor of communications, who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease near the start of the movie.  One of the producers is Maria Shriver whose own father, the late Sargent Shriver, was an Alzheimer's victim.

The poster for 'Still Alice'.

Alec Baldwin plays Alice's husband, Dr. John Howland, and Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish play her children -- Lydia, Anna and Tom -- an actress, a lawyer and a doctor respectively.  Daniel Gerroll plays her neurologist, Dr. Eric Wellman.  Each gives a performance that deepens and defines the roles they must play in Alice's present and that they have played in her past.  I was particularly impressed with Gerroll's performance as the compassionate deliverer of the incredibly bad news about Alice's condition.

There is no question that Julianne Moore deserves the awards (Golden Globe and SAG) and nomination (Oscar) she has received for this film.  Her performance as Alice is both astonishing and devastating -- and always honest.  Not only is Alice dealing with the ever worsening symptoms of early-onset Alzheimer's, but she is also coping with the complex emotional dynamics that her diagnosis causes in both her professional and personal life.  Ms. Moore and her colleagues make all of these interactions truthful and raw.  Alice's speech to a group of Alzheimer's patients, caregivers, and professionals is a scene of such bravery, clarity and even humor that it catches your heart.

Alzheimer's is a disease strikes us long before we are even aware of it and goes on to cause long-term devastation for both victims and caregivers.  Have the courage to see this film -- you will be shaken by the painful reality it presents, but you will be thankful that Glatzer and Westmoreland and Shriver were brave enough to make it and that Ms. Moore has found the humanity in Alice's no-win situation.  With Alzheimer's disease there are no happy endings -- so don't go to 'Still Alice' expecting one -- but do go.