Oh, no! Not another Alzheimer's movie!

Wait, wait! This one's different.

We've had "the effect on the husband" movie--Away From Her, with Julie Christie and (under appreciated) Gordon Pinsent). We"ve had "the victim plans and struggles on" movie--Still Alice, with Julianne Moore.

Now we have "The agony of the care givers" movie.
And it's exceptionally good. The others movies were very good, too, but, as you can see, this one is different--not really about the disease/condition, nor the victim, but those around her (yes, again, it's a woman who has Alzheimer's) and the effect it has on them. Of which the aging wife/mom (well-played by veteran Blythe Donner) is completely oblivious.

All performances are up to the material and then some: On-the-scene son, Michael Shannon, Missing-in-action daughter, Hilary Swank and long-suffering husband who insists he can handle it all, Robert Forster--who died of brain cancer a few months after this movie was released.

But it's the "material"--the script that makes this movie. After she finished writing What They Had, as a Sundance Institute Screenwriter's lab project, neophyte Elizabeth Chomko. Lots of laughs, and drama, too. Chomko decided only she could direct it, and wisely, interested Indie producers agreed. Many writer-directors with years of experience haven't done as well.

One of the best I've seen so far this year.

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Serious topic, sweet movie. Very well written and acted.
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This film was sad, but so real and excellently done!

This film was very disappointing. The previews made us expect a different story line. Another dysfunctional family. BUT the ending was totally unexpected. No, I am not going to disclose. For the ending, , , , well, guess you have to watch the film.

Slow moving, but touching and sweet. Good performances by a very good cast.

Yet another version of dealing with Alzheimers in the family.

MRI

PERF

An inviting movie designed to show how a family solves its problems.

AUD

PG, 14+

Overrated. Did not finish.

I don't think this is a dysfunctional family movie--they seem pretty normal to me. It is also not a happy movie at all. When they aren't competing to see whose life is harder and when the adult children aren't whining about who daddy loved more, they are dealing with their father's inability to cope with losing his wife to dementia. Good, not spectacular, acting. For no reason at all a random sex scene gets thrown in. And fortunately, one character who we are told several times "spends her days elbow deep in dead chicken guts" has a rich spouse. Worth watching but not a brilliant work.

A Chicago family is faced with dealing with the deteriorating memory of their matriarch, who is still very much in love with her husband and family as long as she can remember who they are. Each family member (father/husband, son, daughter) plays a role in helping or impeding the mother's recovery while her memory continues to slip away after eight long years of living with her debilitating condition.