#REVIEW: “STILL ALICE”

In a Résumé which has seen several superlative performances, Julianne Moore appears to be amidst another career renaissance.  Critics adored her at Cannes awarding her the coveted Actress Award for her work in Maps to the Stars, and despite also premiering at TIFF ’14 with slightly less fanfare, STILL ALICE now sees its release and Awards Trail begin after a carefully-timed gap.  Could this be the four-time Oscar Nominee’s long-overdue moment?

Based on Lisa Genova‘s 2007 Bestseller, STILL ALICE centers around a Cognitive Psychologist played by Moore, who learns that she is struggling with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease.  The Film, directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, subtly shows us Alice‘s decline and its impacts on her loving Husband, John (Alec Baldwin) and very different Adult Children, Lydia (Kristen Stewart), Anna (Kate Bosworth) and Tom (Hunter Parrish).   We witness Alice‘s struggle to keep her career afloat, while also trying to balance her family life with the incapacitating illness which under crisis, draws the Family inwards.

What makes STILL ALICE so remarkable is the amount of compassion we see and feel towards the Titular Character, played to perfection by Moore under the most unforgiving circumstances.  As an Audience we are part of the completely authentic experience and the Film succeeds largely not only as a Portrait of a Woman committed in her own inner-battles, but also an educational piece on a matter which warrants our attention and awareness. Aside from Moore‘s flawless transformation into a startling blankness, we see a softer, humanizing side of Baldwin – not to mention some fantastic performances from a pair of Supporting Actresses in Stewart and Bosworth, both who continue to be focusing on more challenging roles of late and I’ll admit are increasingly-likable.

Moore‘s performance is not to be missed.  Mongrel Media release STILL ALICE on Friday, January 23, 2015 in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal.