Away from Her (2007)

You won't be disappointed!

Well Deserved Praise

Lack of good storyline.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

So what's it feel like when you have such a disregard for your indiscretions and then whamo you get them back fourfold while being open and honest, not assuming to hurt you? How many times have women gone through this in a marriage, relationship, camaraderie? Let's not even start to count!We were supposed to feel sorry for him I guess, but I was happy she found security in a sweet simple loving friendship. Keep reading those inane books about Iceland without any inflection and I would be bored to tears as well. What a moron, perhaps read "Alice in Wonderland" and make it fun with voices and animation cupcake.Julie is truly stunning after all these years after Zhivago and portrays many nuanced emotions well. I have cared for Alzheimer's patients and no one is ever this coherent or wearing adorable outfits.High recommend for getting even with that evil philandering husband back in the day and letting him feel that pain. And for Christie who is still amazing.

Julie Christie's performance should have won her the Oscar, despite the strong competition at the Academy Awards that year. She was vulnerable, she was understated when need be, and she was relate-able. Gordon Pinsent was equally strong and we felt for both of their characters and were on their sides. Sarah Polley had depth beyond her years, and an understanding of a topic that should have been taken on by an older more experienced director (I am the same age as Polley). Had that happened, we wouldn't have had the strong performances, brought on by Polley's direction, nor would the film been as touching and realistic. Cudo's to the producers for believing in her vision and allowing her to take the helm. This could have been a Bergman film, it works on so many levels and really stays with the viewer.

If you were an utter nihilist, you'd find this film to be too sentimental. And it does have the lightest touches of sentimentality, but this a debut feature from the little blonde girl from 'Avonlea', Sarah Polley, who I will probably always have an undying crush on. It's a debut, and it's not really sentimental, nor does it have more than the faintest glimmer of hope, because with Alzheimer's, there isn't any. There's simply bittersweet moments of clarity, followed by a shadow leading into an abyss. If you were an optimist, you might walk away feeling that glimmer. Yes, sometimes you get a glimmer. But it's like the mating call of a lightning bug. It's beautiful and it makes you feel at home, but it doesn't light the way. And sometimes moving on is merely that. Here, have some whiskey. And good luck to you.

I work with older adults and this movie presents to me, for the first time in memory, a woman who actually WANTS to move into a nursing home.Apparently Fiona has long harbored resentment toward her husband, who took advantage of his position as a college professor to bed many of his grad students. Now the disinhibition that comes with Alzheimer's is freeing her up to leave the seemingly unrepentent Grant.This is a movie about selfishness and loss. First Grant cruelly betrays his wife. Then, 45 years later, he separates her from a man at the nursing home who is easier to love -- uncomplicated, mute, and gentle. Grant does this out of jealousy and a sense of ownership, with nary a concern about how it will affect his increasingly confused wife.Finally she forgets Aubrey, just as she had initially forgotten Grant, and ultimately she is able to hug her husband again. He wins. Yay. Goody for him.In all, this is a rather bleak vision of a disease that is rapidly coming of age.