Review of Still Alice

Julianne Moore's character of Alice Howland has to face that eventuality in the wonderful, heart-breaking movie "Still Alice.". Alice is a 50-year-old woman with a charmed life. She is happily married to Dr. John Howland, played by Alec Baldwin. Their son, Tom is training to be a doctor, daughter, Anna is married, pregnant with twins, and a lawyer, youngest daughter, Lydia played by Kristen Stewart who has matured as an actress since the "Twilight" series, is an aspiring actress. All of the performers are great, but Kristen Stewart surprised me the most and she broke the Bella Swan type-cast trap. In her job as a language professor, Alice needs her brain in order to give lectures and write books. When her brain basically craps out on her during a lecture at the college, Alice is confused by why her sharp mind has suddenly failed her. Alice's memory lapses have her confused and upset. She goes to a neurologist who tests her memory. After much testing, the doctor says Alice has an inherited form of Alzheimer's disease she got from her late father. He tells her to have her children tested to see if their late grandfather gave them the faulty gene. Anna tests positive for the gene, Tom tests negative, and stubborn Lydia refuses to take the test. In the end, Alice gets worse and worse. Her twin grandson and granddaughter are healthy, but it is heart-breaking their grandmother won't remember them. Lydia takes up the reins as her mother's caregiver and the most heart-wrenching thing about the movie is how much this horrible disease takes away so much from its victims.