Still Alice (2014) review

Columbia University professor (and expert in linguistics) Carol (Julianne Moore) starts to notice she finds herself lost and forgetting things - after a visit to a neurologist she learns she has a rare form of early-onset Alzheimer's Disease. The inherently-tragic Lifetime Special premise gets a strong boost by Moore and the screenplay, which nails the little details perfectly (the knotting of the shoe laces, the strange items in the refrigerator): on a personal note, my maternal Grandmother, whom I lived with for most of my life, developed this revolting disease (and had to be placed in a nursing home) and this movie never makes a false step in detailing the lead's decline (when Moore's character says, "I wish I had cancer," I choked up). It ends with mother and daughter (Kristen Stewart) finally bonding together, although what is in store for Alice is even more horrifying than the film shows and most people can imagine (again, I speak from personal experience). "John Black, 42 Washington Street, Hoboken" ... I'm so glad I remembered that.