Cert 12A
101 mins
BBFC advice: Contains infrequent strong language, moderate sex references
One of the world's best actresses in a role which could showcase her huge talent. Julianne Moore's performance in Still Alice was bound to win her an Oscar.
Although I would argue that the judges probably need to start looking outside of parts where central characters are afflicted.
In this case, Moore plays Alice Howland, a linguistics professor, who is struck down by Alzheimer's Disease at the age of 50.
Thus, she progressively loses the intellect which has defined her,
Worse still, this form of the disease is genetic so she faces the fear that she may have passed it down to one of her three children.
Ironically, Richard Glatzer who co-directed the movie with Wash Westmoreland, was diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer's a year before the pair took on the movie.
I suspect that this helped them make it the very personal journey that it is.
Still Alice begins with Moore's character forgetting a very basic fact during a lecture and then getting lost whilst on a run on her university's campus.
From then on there is the denial, the diagnosis and the deterioration. This is combined with a fourth d - a sense of dread.
However, Still Alice is not as unrelentingly miserable as Cake was a couple of weeks ago. Moore infuses Alice with an energy which gives the audience hope even though they probably realise there is none.
It also shows the stress put on families in situations such as this and the unexpected reactions.
Alec Baldwin plays Alice's husband who struggles to realise that he needs to put his own life on hold to help her.
Meanwhile, Kristen Stewart is the tearaway daughter who has more empathy for her mother than her siblings would expect.
Still Alice is more thought-provoking for those of the age group of Mrs W and me than most. Moore's character is slightly younger than ours and it reminded us that we should live every day as if it is the last.
Co-director Wash Westmoreland on Julianne Moore: "The more we thought about it, the more perfect the casting. Julianne could not only project the scintillating intelligence and complexity of a linguistics professor but also the vulnerability and simplicity of the later stages."
Reason to watch: Oscar-winning performance by the outstanding Julianne Moore.
Reason to avoid: Its extremely bleak outlook.
Laughs: none
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 8.5/10