Still Alice 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: If only the movie were as good as [Moore] and Stewart are. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Thanks to this brave and gutsy actress' overwhelming candor and sincerity, you go away feeling educated, enlightened and more compassionate than you can possibly imagine. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: A film that benefits from Ms. Moore's lovely performance, yet suffers from glib contrivance and predictable writing. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: While it's no surprise that Moore is so good, "Still Alice" has an unexpected trick up its sleeve: the sweetly gentle performance of Kristen Stewart, as Alice's actress daughter Lydia. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Julianne Moore guides us through the tragic arc of how it must feel to disappear before one's own eyes, accomplishing one of her most powerful performances by underplaying the scenario ... Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: Still Alice is rarely anything short of compelling, in part because its sense of progression and scale offers such a distinctively unsentimental take on the terminal-countdown tearjerker. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Ultimately this is a movie built around Moore's performance, and she doesn't disappoint. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Still Alice" is much too clear-eyed to hold out false hope, but it's a moving testimonial to going down with grace. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: This middlebrow drama presents the heroine's mental deterioration calmly and sensitively, though it feels pretty thin on the whole. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Simultaneously rawly realistic and airbrushed. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Sorrow-laden and moving, Still Alice isn't gratuitously grim nor is it easily sentimental. There's humor here -- vaguely gallows-like, perhaps but also earned. Read more

Cary Darling, Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com: It's Moore who really brings the film home. It's in her expression when the doctor gives his diagnosis and pessimistic prognosis. It's in the way she looks at her family, knowing there will come a time when she won't recognize them. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: Even though Glatzer and Westmoreland's film occasionally flirts with three-hankie, disease-of-the-week Lifetime-network cliches, it mostly rises above them thanks to a pair of stunning performances. One that's pretty much expected, the other less so. Read more

Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: The toll the disease takes on the life of a brilliant linguistics professor is superbly detailed by Julianne Moore in a career-high performance, driving straight to the terror of the disease and its power to wipe out personal certainties and identity. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Losing your mind is a terrible thing to watch, but the splendid acting in "Still Alice" makes it worth the pain. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The movie is harrowing, as any story about Alzheimer's should be, but Moore gives it an extra layer of gravity and heartbreaking inevitability. Read more

David Thomson, The New Republic: Julianne Moore is extraordinary at revealing the gradual loss of memory and confidence, and at showing the hulk of physical persistence that remains after intellect and reference have gone. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: A modest drama, but Moore's heart-wrenching and Oscar-nominated performance makes this a must-see. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: In the absence of the anger and the wildness that are crouched and caged within this most terrible of themes, "Still Alice" is worth watching, for the sake of Julianne Moore. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Moore has been a fine actress for a long time and "Still Alice" gives her a remarkable role, and the space to truly live it. Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: The movie's most expressive element is Moore's face, slowly moving from engagement, flecked with worry, to disconnection and blankness. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: "Still Alice" is hampered by both an unimaginative script and ordinary direction, but it's a serious Oscar contender. Why? Because Julianne Moore is in the lead. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Still Alice is a movie that addresses a nightmarish circumstance with calm, compassionate sensitivity. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The great strength of the film is that it never resorts to cheap sentimentality. The facts themselves are hard enough, crushing enough. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Still Alice is heartbreaking but it doesn't earn its tears through easy emotional manipulation. Read more

Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com: With a combination of power and grace, Julianne Moore elevates "Still Alice" above its made-for-cable-television trappings, and delivers one of the more memorable performances of her career. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: You bet your ass that Julianne Moore is overdue for Academy love. She's supremely gifted, possessing the beauty of a true star and the intuitive technique of a true actress. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: It's a way better movie than it ought to be, but not good enough to escape its pulpy, mendacious roots. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: For all the movie's honesty, the reality of Alzheimer's disease is a lot worse than what you see in "Still Alice." Perhaps directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland made a calculation as to how much an audience can take. They were right. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Glatzer and Westmoreland don't need to stack the emotional deck on Alice's behalf ... They just leave the camera on Moore's beautiful but increasingly faraway face, and our tears come on their own. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: If it didn't star Julianne Moore, it would be well worth skipping. But the exceptional way Moore plays Alice, a renowned Columbia University linguistics professor with early-onset Alzheimer's, lifts the film above its morose potential. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Still Alice is accurate and compassionate, and anyone who has known someone with Alzheimer's will appreciate the film's sincere intentions. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Don't be surprised to find yourself suddenly obsessed with forgotten names and misplaced keys. Read more

James Rocchi, TheWrap: "Still Alice"might sound maudlin, or more on the frequency of a made-for-TV movie than what it is. But this is not only sensitive material handled with tact, it's also sensitive material bolstered and braced by Moore's stunning performance. Read more

David Ehrlich, Time Out: The rare film possessed with the courage required to shine a light into that abyss knowing full well that down is the only way out. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Moore's portrayal of 50-year-old Alice Howland, adapted from Lisa Genova's 2007 novel, is one of the best of her career. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: The triumph of Still Alice is that it's not about an illness; it's about a person. Read more