Reviewer: Pat Brennan
Rating: 3/4 Directors: Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland Writers: Richard Glatzer (screenplay); Lisa Genova (novel) Cast: Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kate Bosworth, Kristen Stewart Still Alice is one of those films where you know there is not going to be a happy ending. There is a feeling of sadness and anguish as the film moves along, which continues to sit with you long after it is over. First and foremost, lets talk about Julianne Moore's performance as Alice and what a performance it was. Moore plays Alice Holland, a linguistics professor at Columbia in New York, who slowly starts to forget everyday words and the things that she does daily. When she is diagnosed with early on-set Alzheimer's disease, her life drastically changes. Moore is able to become one with Alice and separate herself from the rest of the characters in the film, which made it seem as though they were not even there half of the time. That is not to say that the supporting cast did not do a great job (Baldwin shines as her husband; Bosworth and Stewart both create excellent supporting characters that make you feel the pain they are going through), it is just simply because Moore is one of the best that is working today. You are drawn to her and find it hard not to feel like you are one of her children watching her go through this horrible disease. Moore is, in my opinion, one of the greatest actresses to ever grace the screen and this being her fifth Academy Award nomination, I can say that the Oscar will finally tip her way. She most definitely deserves it. There were a couple of moments in the film where the directors truly showed how Alice's disease was changing her and separating her from the world, as well as her family. The first moment came towards the beginning of the film when she is at her doctor's office for an appointment to help with her memory. The shot starts out completely out of focus, but as she starts to talk and tries to put pieces together, the camera slowly comes back into focus, solely on her. This is to show how her mind and her sense of identity is slowly becoming distant and fuzzy. This subtle trick is to show the audience that this is what she is starting to feel and go through. This is what it will be like moving forward. The second moment in the film that truly stood out to me was when her husband, John, and her children, Anna and Tom, were discussing how they should care for her now that she is not even recognizing them or even remembering who she is. The shot starts out with Alice leaned over to the side in the foreground of the frame, while her family is in the background of the frame, sitting at a table completely out of focus. The next shot (wide angle) has her shown from a distance, sitting in the living room with nobody around her. It is as if she is trapped there in the living room with no escape. No escaping the empty space that is growing in her mind. Again, this particular moment in the film shows how Alice is becoming more distant from her family and from herself. She is slowly starting to forget those that she loves and who she is. What these moments tell us as an audience member is by not showing a lot happening within the frame, you can actually express a lot through emotion and thought by creating these vivid images. These moments not only help create the character of Alice, they also express what she is going through by showing the audience what this disease can do to someone. By having her often shot by herself within the frame, the directors are able to establish how Alice is feeling throughout the film, as well as connect the audience to Alice. Without Moore in the leading role, I do not think that this film would have had such a strong impact as it did. She will win the Oscar. Without a doubt.
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Authors:Pat Brennan: Recent Film grad from Temple University with a love for all aspects of film. David Fincher for life. Archives:
November 2016
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