21 July 2009

Away from Her (2006)


Ok.* I generally like Sarah Polley, generally meaning I saw The Secret Life of Words recently and thought it was pretty good. So I got Away from Her from the River Edge Public Library [name dropping alert], and I was moderately excited to watch a movie written and directed by a lady -- and a movie about old people at that. Not many films feature elderly folks as protagonists - Tokyo Story, Make Way for Tomorrow, and On Golden Pond being the only ones I can recall - so this was a draw for me as a person who likes to blab about ageism on occasion.

The movie moves slowly, which of course coincides with the film's setting [a cabin in the wilderness] and subject matter [the onset of Alzheimer's disease]. In fact, Polley deals with Alzheimers very nicely, making sure not to treat Julie Christie's character too carefully. She even avoids setting a melodramatic tone. So great job. It was just a bit dull for my taste. And really, the first 10 minutes of it encompasses the rest of the film, so why make the next 100? Sarah Polley, stick to directing yourself on screen and don't stop making out with Tim Robbins in movies that take place on oil rigs [also directed by a lady].

This post was almost as boring as the movie. Sorry, everybody.

2/5 pizza pies




* I know I am misspelling okay, but I like Ok better. So deal with it.

1 comment:

  1. you forgot to mention: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107050/

    ReplyDelete