Alice Howland is a renowned linguistics professor happily married with three grown children. All that begins to change when she strangely starts to forget words and then more. When her doctor diagnoses her with Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease, Alice and her family's lives face a harrowing challenge as this terminal degenerative neurological ailment slowly progresses to an inevitable conclusion they all dread. Along the way, Alice struggles to not only to fight the inner decay, but to make the most of her remaining time to find the love and peace to make simply living worthwhile.Written by
Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
In the novel on which the film is based, Dr. Alice Howland that is right handed, while her son, Tom, is left handed. In real life, Julianne Moore is left handed and Hunter Parrish is right handed. See more »
Goofs
In the credits, "In Dulce Jubileo" is credited to the "Worchester (sic) Cathedral Voluntary Choir. The word "Worchester" does not exist. The popular Christmas tune was sung by the Worcester Cathedral Voluntary Choir. See more »
If I Had A Boat
Written by Lyle Lovett
Performed by Karen Elson
Published by Michael H. Goldsen, Inc.
on behalf of itself and Lyle Lovett Music (ASCAP)
Produced by Frank Liddell and Eric Masse
Recorded and Mixed by Eric Masse
Courtesy of Carnival Record Company See more »
User Reviews
I didn't want to see this film, but I'm glad I did
I had already marked this movie down as a "no" when the cinema preview club we attend showed it this morning. And I'm very glad they did.
Few movies about Alzheimer's show things almost entirely from the perspective of the victim, and even fewer try to grapple with her internal thoughts and feelings as the disease progresses. Still Alice does just that.
Taking an exceptionally verbal and smart person and giving her early onset Alzheimer's and watching how she deals with it and how she feels about it made this an exceptional film. So does the always-excellent Julianne Moore, who outdoes herself in an Oscar-worthy performance.
The movie's full of highlights: the Skypeing between mom and daughter Kristin Stewart, the relatively healthy Julianne leaving a video for her much sicker self to discover; the question only one person asks: "How does it make you feel?" And extra credit for the double use of Lyle Lovett's "If I Had a Boat."
55 of 64 people found this review helpful.
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I had already marked this movie down as a "no" when the cinema preview club we attend showed it this morning. And I'm very glad they did.
Few movies about Alzheimer's show things almost entirely from the perspective of the victim, and even fewer try to grapple with her internal thoughts and feelings as the disease progresses. Still Alice does just that.
Taking an exceptionally verbal and smart person and giving her early onset Alzheimer's and watching how she deals with it and how she feels about it made this an exceptional film. So does the always-excellent Julianne Moore, who outdoes herself in an Oscar-worthy performance.
The movie's full of highlights: the Skypeing between mom and daughter Kristin Stewart, the relatively healthy Julianne leaving a video for her much sicker self to discover; the question only one person asks: "How does it make you feel?" And extra credit for the double use of Lyle Lovett's "If I Had a Boat."