Still Alice

I watched this flick because Julianne Moore won the Oscar for Best Actress for it. I have been trying to decide if I liked it or not. I guess, when you need to think so much to decide then it's not a very memorable flick. I went to IMDB looking for negative reviews but couldn't find any. Thankfully, some critics have not been blind sided by it.


The movie stars Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart and Julianne. Julianne plays Alice married to John Howland (Alec). She is a professor at Columbia, John is a scientist, they have 3 kids - Anna is a married lawyer expecting twins, Tom is a medical student and Lydia, played by Kristen is the youngest and a budding actor.

Julianne starts forgetting things and even forgets the streets. That's when she goes to a neurologist and gets diagnosed for Alzheimer's. 

I know a little about Alzheimer's. A friend had told me how his grandfather had the disease and he saw a very smart man waste away. It's a terrible, terrible way to grow old. 

The disease progresses very quickly and Alice becomes a shadow of her former self. Lydia moves back home to take care of her. 

I like the fact that the treatment of the movie is not sappy. There are 1-2 scenes which made me weep but overall, it was not a tear jerker. But at the same time I feel like something is missing. There are so many gaps. Alice has passed on the gene to Anna which means she will get Alzheimer's someday and that is discussed only over a phone call. We hardly see Tom while John is too busy with his career to take a break and spend time with his wife. 

It's an ok movie. Definitely not the best one of Alzheimer's. Julianne Moore is good but is she as good as Patricia Arquette in Boyhood? I don't think so. I think Patricia deserved the Best Actress award instead of the Supporting Actress one.

Kristen Stewart is good, not brilliant but has redeemed herself after the fiasco called 'Twilight'.