Again, Julianne Moore did a great job to portray a career-minded ambitious woman who suffered the fatal gene inherited from her father, a disease that nothing can be done to stop or cure the dementia, the nickname of the Alzheimer's disease. She got that, then one of her daughter got it past down from her. This year, we got two movies in the same genre, the other one; an also a very good one, "You Are Not You". Both focused on an unlucky, highly educated, very successful woman who suddenly encountered a fatal disease.
This great film has some weak and/or flawed characters development and wrong casting job. Alec Baldwin is the one that definitely a miscast. The role he played got no chemistry with his wife and their children. The role he played to those three children only gave an impression of a step father, a guy who had divorced his first wife then married Alice with three children.
This film is about a woman named Alice played by the great Julianne Moore who has spent most of her life building a successful career as a linguist professor at Columbia while also maintaining a loving marriage and raising three children. The main child that we get to know is Lydia, played very well by Kristen Stewart. She is the youngest child who has moved across the country to Los Angeles in order to pursue a career as an actress.
Anyways, the movie very gently and respectfully shows us what it's like for a person to not only receive the devastating news that they have early onset Alzheimers but, also someone who spent her whole life studying words and communication. It shows her first symptoms, her initial diagnosis and then unflinchingly, we see her eventual decline.
I have to say that although Julianne Moore did a fantastic job, I was really blown away by Kristen Stewart's performance. I can't think of any other actress breathing more life into that role than she did. Lydia was also just a fantastic character. The way she reacts to her mother's illness is so heartbreaking but, also so strong. There's a scene in particular when the children are first told about the diagnosis and while the other two children are confused and shocked, Lydia doesn't seem too surprised by it as she had noticed her mother's slipping memory.
All the supporting were amazing. Bosworth and Parish did good job as well. The story had their own flaw, but this is important movie and heartbreaking. Julianne deserves a nomination after so many snubbed and maybe win it? She has so many that can easily made her a finally-Oscar-Winner.
Julianne Moore's performance is Oscar worthy. I would not be surprised if she snatched some awards this year because at this point her nomination is inevitable. She delivered a captivating performance for such a demanding and what I'm sure must have been a challenging role. Moore applied so much authenticity in her performance that you won't leave the movie theater without acknowledging your feelings, specially if you have a history with a chronic illness.
So, to wrap it up in a nutshell: Still Alice is a wonderful film, an intimate and fascinating study in the field of family drama, and one of the year's best. I definitely hope to see some awards buzz mainly around the cast - both Alec Baldwin and Kristen Stewart deserve it for their delicate and supportive portrayal of husband John and youngest daughter Lydia, respectively, who never gave up on Moore's Alice. And Julianne Moore - well, what can I say - her brutally sad and honest portrayal of Alice deserves to go down in the books of top-notch acting and she will reap the fruits of her work a long time from now
"So live in the moment I tell myself, it really is all I can do, live in the moment."
Mine : 8/10
IMDB : 7.5/10
Rottentomatoes : 85%
metacritics : 71%
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