Away from Her (2006)

Slow-moving, melancholy but good ...

This slow-paced and melancholy film traces the development of Alzheimer's on one woman and the seismic impact it has on her husband. The latter must eventually move his wife into a care facility, where she develops a strong attachment to another resident who seems even more worse off than her. Her husband's feelings of abandonment and jealousy give way to other impulses at the end. Julie Christie is magnificent in the central role of the woman with dementia.

The film may idealize life in a care facility. Many reviewers have commented on this. Hollywood's version of these "homes" is much more plush than the reality.

A good film about the power of love and relationships.
July 19, 2008

Heart-breaking story wonderfully acted

You can read other reviews here for the plot synopsis or rave reviews of the performances. Some reviewers said the Alzheimer's effects didn't ring true enough or weren't "ugly" enough. Well, this isn't a documentary about the disease. And not all Alzheimer's sufferers exhibit the same symptoms on the same schedule. But the film is so wonderfully shot and directed and acted that it is sometimes hard to believe it comes from a novice director. Sarah Polley - yes, that little girl from "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" and later of "The Sweet Hereafter" - hits one out of the park.

I saw this film and "The Savages" in the same weekend. Helluva pair. June 30, 2008

Not for the sqeamish

This movie is not for anyone who does not want to face the realities of the horror of Alzheimer's disease. The acting is splendid. Julie Christie is superb, and Gordon Pinsent presents a chilling portrayal of the journey from complete denial to final and unspeakably sad acceptance. I thought I would make it through without crying. I was wrong. June 29, 2008

send condolence cards to the actors who were stuck with this script !!!

Away From Her tells the moving, sad story of a woman who is slipping slowly but surely into Alzheimer's disease. The plot essentially involves her relationships with her husband of forty-four years and her moving away from him once she becomes a permanent resident in a nursing facility for people with Alzheimer's. The plot moves along at a good pace but many of the lines are not well written; look for the ward nurse to get many of the best lines in the movie! The acting was convincing; but the portrayal of the nursing facility looks so unrealistically pure and nurturing it appears copied out of a fairy tale book.

First we meet an older married couple living in rural Canada: Grant and Fiona Anderson (Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie). Fiona is already slowly forgetting more and more; and when she begins wandering away and getting lost Fiona and Grant make the painful decision to move her, temporarily at least, into a nursing facility for persons with her disease. They try at times to deny that Fiona has Alzheimer's disease but their denial never works because the truth is becoming more and more painfully obvious.

Unfortunately for Grant, Fiona checks into a facility that actually has the brutal policy that new residents cannot have phone calls or any visitors for the first thirty days. Wow--sounds like a wonderful place. Who would trust them with that? In addition, when Grant does return, in just one month his wife has almost completely forgotten who he is--and she has fallen in love with another resident, Aubrey (Michael Murphy). This pains Grant and it brings up issues for Grant of past infidelities that may never be ironed out with his wife because she is now too ill to deal with it properly in a conversation.

Grant also meets Aubrey's wife Marion (Olympia Dukakis) and together they explore their feelings about their lives and how things "didn't work out."

The plot can go anywhere from here. Will Fiona stay in the nursing facility or will she come home and let it be a temporary experience after all? How will Grant and Marion manage a potentially difficult relationship--after all, their ill spouses have forgotten them because of the illness and in the nursing home their spouses are in love. What about Grant's desire to iron out past infidelities with his wife Fiona--will it truly be too late for them to work it out and smooth over bad feelings hidden over so many years? No plot spoilers here, folks--watch the movie and find out!

The DVD has a director's commentary and there are a few deleted scenes.

Too bad the extras didn't include the movie as it would have looked in real life. Another reviewer notes correctly that nursing facilities mean ringing the bell constantly for 40 minutes to get an overburdened attendant to change your parent's diaper. The nursing home is pictured with such purity you'd think they had to be joking--and it's a bad joke at that. None of the care facilities are ever that clean and they don't have staff who look so perfectly composed at all times. I know; I've been there with a very sick mother.

Overall, Away From Her features a fine performance from actors who are burdened with an average script. The lines are best when Grant and Fiona interact; and the ward nurse gets some great lines, too. Watch this when you don't have kids around and there's nothing else to watch. If there IS something better to watch, leave this one for another day--and send condolence cards to the actors who got stuck with this script!
June 20, 2008

Christie and Dukakis are great; portrayal is unrealistic

Agreeing with a previous review, I found this film to be extremely unrealistic in terms of what the experience of Alzheimer's is like (the character of Fiona had dependable and insightful short-term memory, for the most part, though she was confused randomly); and what long-term care facilities are like. Maybe they are significantly different in Canada. As a gerontologist, I kept wanting to point out numerous inaccuracies. Not allowed to visit one's relative for the 1st 30 days of a stay? Big open spaces, with the long-term care facility staff having ample time to sit and chat with visitors? I don't think so. Then there is the issue of whose responsibility it is to help the residents keep fit. Why didn't staff have Fiona talk to a psychologist or psychiatrist? Many problems with this. HOWEVER, Julie Christie and Olympia Dukakis are wonderful to see in action. The husband was about as animated as the man Fiona befriends who cannot speak or do much of anything. But the female actors (including the nurse) were great. June 19, 2008

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