Still Alice

Today is Martin Luther King Day. Having seen “Selma,” as well as reading, watching, and listening to numerous other pieces over the past week or so, and having been confined to quarters with the miserable weather yesterday, we snuck out for a little while this afternoon to see the new movie, “Still Alice.”

The story is about a 50-year-old Professor of Linguistics at Columbia University (Julianne Moore), wife of a Professor of Medicine (Alex Baldwin) and mother of three young adult children, who begins to exhibit odd symptoms and, following a battery of tests and evaluations, is diagnosed with a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease. To say that this is a particularly devastating diagnosis for someone who has spent her life in pursuit of understanding brain function is an understatement. There are no miracle cures or particularly feel-good endings here. The first part of the movie seemed a bit too perfect, with all but one family member portrayed as clever and charming over-achievers and most of the dialogue in tired clichés. But the second half, as Alice’s condition begins to deteriorate seriously, seems far more realistic and quite painful. Even her husband, who is portrayed as a reasonably nice fellow, finds a way to disentangle himself from the pain of experiencing her final decline.

A.O. Scott wrote “It surrounds Alice and her family with the signifiers of a perfect, privileged life: impressive jobs, well-raised children, a Manhattan brownstone and a lovely beach house, neither one too showy. But all of this feels like a too tidy garden that has been planted for the sole purpose of introducing a blight and observing its ravages. The story is sad and sincerely told, but it is too removed from life to carry the full measure of pain that Alice deserves.”

The first portion of the movie, as she notices the early symptoms, begins the rounds of diagnostic tests, and finally receives the devastating diagnosis felt a bit too close to home for us. It was a bit difficult to watch the neuropsychologist administer some of the same assessment tools that we remember so well. But there is no doubt that I had to feel extremely grateful that the course of my disease was ultimately quite different from hers. However frustrated I may become at the lapses that are pretty much a constant part of my days, I have to remind myself that I have been quite fortunate indeed.

This is not a fun movie, but Julianne Moore’s Oscar nomination is certainly appropriate. For something a bit more upbeat, I am hoping we will have a chance to take the children to see “Paddington.”

Love,

Rebecca