Away From Her

This is the story of a long married couple and their struggles with Alzheimer's Disease. Gordon Pinsent plays Grant Anderson. A man faced with the reality that his wife Fiona, is sinking into the depths of Alzheimer's Disease. No longer capable of looking after her, he has to put her into a home.

Grant visits her everyday and watches helplessly as Fiona gradually loses contact with him and develops a relationship with another patient. He can't do anything about it and his growing frustration at losing his wife is the true soul of the Away From Her.

It's with this complexity that this film really shines. The years that Fiona and Grant spent together are quickly removed from her. Grant has the memories to hold onto so while he sees Fiona's memories vanish, he's left with the sadness. However, Fiona isn't aware of her husband's pain. She only lives for "Now" while Grant is still in yesterday, today and tomorrow. It's a testament to how deep love grows through time and how a crippling disease can ravage it in an instant.

It's not that I didn't like Away From Her, because Julie Christie was incredible. She really was. Gordon Pinsent was outstanding and powerful, but the direction was meandering. A more powerful film would have been seeing the disintigration of Fiona. More time spent with Fiona and Grant to see where their relationship was before the disease took over would have made a good movie into an incredible film.

*** (out of 5)

http://www.caprifilms.com/awayfromher/

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