Still Alice

STILL ALICE (15)

D: Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland

Sony Pictures Classics/Killer/Big Indie/BSM/Shriver (Lex Lutzus, James Brown & Pamela Koffler)

US 2014

101 mins

Drama

W: Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland [based on the novel by Lisa Genova]

DP: Denis Lenoir

Ed: Nicolas Chaudeurge

Mus: Ilan Eshkeri

Julianne Moore (Alice Howland), Alec Baldwin (John Howland), Kristen Stewart (Lydia Howland), Kate Bosworth (Anna Howland), Hunter Parrish (Tom Howland), Shane McRae (Charlie Jones)

Julianne Moore won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance as Alice Howland, a reputable linguistics professor who is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease shortly before her 50th birthday. 

Based on the novel by Lisa Genova, the story focuses on Alice and her family dealing with the symptoms and her struggle as her condition worsens over time.

Julianne Moore truly does deliver an excellent performance in this sentimental drama, and she's supported with good performances from Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth and Kristen Stewart.

The film does seem to accelerate the speed in which Moore's mental health deteriorates, but for the most part it's a very accurate and honest portrayal of the illness.

Directors Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland, who also adapted the screenplay, deserve much credit for making a grounded drama without making it overly sentimental or cloying, though Julianne Moore's excellent work has to be given the majority of the credit.

It's not an easy watch, occasionally quite depressing, but a powerful film with important subject matter.

8/10