Review: Still Alice

Still Alice
Cert: 12A / 101 mins / Dir. Wash Westmoreland & Richard Glatzer / Trailer



I suspect I may have mentioned this previously, but it's worth reiterating that Julianne Moore really may be one of the finest actors of our era. A screenplay which has an expert on linguistics, and the formation of communication, slowly lose the very abilities she's written textbooks about can certainly be described as self-aware; but when Moore's character is lecturing her daughter on how acting isn't a sensible career, it's positively meta.

There's no doubt whatsoever that Still Alice is An Important Film (and no doubt that it's a fantastic one), but even with the rapid acceleration of Alice's Early-Onset Alzheimer's, there's a lot of ground to cover in a relatively short span, and this means the proceedings sometimes feel rushed and heavy-handed. In this respect, Moore's performance is actually better than the film itself. The editor's handling of the passage of time is often jarring, but this settles down after the first act, and the cast pretty much paper over any cracks. Which would be a good time to point out what an amazing job Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart*¹, Kate Bosworth and Hunter Parrish all do as Alice's immediate family (although their roles are strictly limited to Supporting™).

The film's soundtrack is delicate and underplayed, the cinematography is quietly magnificent (the importance of focussing in particular, which I've undercut by even mentioning it, but fuck it, it needs complimenting), and if you don't have Something In Your Eye ™ at least once during the film, you're clearly some kind of monster.

Go and see Still Alice.

It is.



Well, I'm not sure how many times you'll want/need to rewatch it, so maybe a rental?



In Julianne Moore's case, this will be difficult to top.



It does, indeed.



Well not less, but I'll probably worry about you.



There isn't. Which is hardly surprising, to be fair.



Alec Baldwin starred in 1990's The Hunt For Red October, a film which featured everybody's favourite Vader-vocaliser, James Earl Jones (and also Tim Curry, who has lately voiced Palpatine/Sidious in Star Wars: The Clone Wars. And it has to be said that his Sidious is better than his Palpatine, but I digress).







*¹ No, you shut up. Seriously, she's great in this.

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