Saturday, March 07, 2015

Still Alice

On Saturday it is a chance to not have a 6am alarm clock, and the sleep in til 08:30 is delicious, but slightly tainted by the menopausal bladder that has an inbuilt timer of 4am.  Still it is an opportunity to arise, and check the impending sunrise and pat the cat, and if the neighbours were peeking through the kitchen window they would get a glimpse of my middle aged underwear and tshirt as I passed by - luckily they seem to sleep soundly or appreciate the peep show.

So after a little brekkie on the couch, I did a brisk walk to the local independent cinema which is about 15 minutes from my house.  I had a voucher to use, so it was a free treat which was nice and me and one other early bird adult enjoyed the 10:50 viewing of Still Alice in a cinema fit for forty elderly bottoms.

I love Lisa Genovas book, and was intrigued to find that it had been adapted for the movies.   Still Alice tells the story of Alice, a just turned 50 year old New York linguistics professor who suddenly finds herself with some memory loss.  Diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers we get to follow her journey.  Such a hard thing to adapt a book which covers a long time period, but I thought it was handled well, with sensitivity, but also avoiding the usual Hollywood gloss.  As the movie and disease progressed, Alice looses her glossy look with fancy clothes and hairdos replaced with fleecy shirts and unbrushed hair and Julianne Moore does a great job of portraying the loss.  For me having her and Alec Baldwin were gold, but Kristen Stewart was a bit of a distraction.

 Feeling picky, I also felt they just got the house they lived in a bit wrong, it was a bit woodsy/arts and crafty, and they felt a bit more white wools and funky rugs sort of middle aged couple.  It just looked like they were boarding in someone elses aunties house.  Even the beach house was a bit wrong for them, I felt like both houses looked like somebody in their seventies lived in them.

Still it was a moving watch, and I applaud the team who bring such great womens stories to the screen - Bravo!!!

4/5

No comments: