Still Alice (2014)

Based on the novel by Lisa Genova, this film follows the lives of a close-knit family pushed to near-breaking point by tragedy, and earned an Academy Award for lead actress, Julianne Moore.

Alice Howland (Moore) is a linguistics professor at Columbia University, and has enjoyed great academic success with her textbook 'From Neurons to Nouns', which has quickly become the most-used text by institutions worldwide.

When she starts to forget words and concepts in her lectures, and gets lost one day while jogging around campus, she makes an appointment with a neurologist, Dr. Benjamin (Stephen Kunken).

After a series of tests and scans, it emerges that Alice - who turns fifty at the beginning of the film - has a rare form of early-onset Alzheimers Disease which is genetically inherited.

Alice (Julianne Moore).

Distraught, she finally opens up to her family - eldest daughter Anna (Kate Bosworth), son Tom (Hunter Parrish) and youngest child Lydia (Kristen Stewart) - urging them to be tested, as the disease is genetic. Anna - who is trying to get pregnant via IVF with husband Charlie (Shane McRae) - turns out to have the affected gene. Tom doesn't have it, and Lydia - a struggling actor living in LA - chooses not to know.

Alice's deterioration increases by the day. Always by her side, her husband John (Alec Baldwin) is ever supportive. But it is daughter Lydia who seems to be the most affected by her mother's diagnosis, and the two of them grow closer than they have ever been before.

The screenplay, written by co-directors Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland - adapted from Genova's novel - is, in a word, brilliant. Every single character is filled with their own conflicts, both internal and external, and the reality of the story and drama experienced by the characters is intense and palpable. There are occasional moments of humour, but overall, the story is a tragedy, but one that shows the strength of familial bonds and love, and the power of the human spirit.

John (Alec Baldwin) and Alice (Julianne Moore).

The score has been masterfully composed by Ilan Eshkeri. The power of the score is twofold: there is a theme that plays at several points throughout the film (a relatively simple piano theme), and there are moments where the music is clearly reflecting the intense psychological ups-and-downs of Alice's personal struggle. The aforementioned piano theme changes ever so subtly over the course of the film, which also reflects the changes in the lives of all the characters, most strongly the changes and deterioration of Alice's faculties.

Denis Lenoir's cinematography is beautiful; it helps that the landscapes of the location shoots are incredibly photogenic. But his command of light and dark, and contrast thereof, is magnificent. There are several moments where the camera transitions to Alice's point-of-view, and these become shakier and more unsettling as the film goes on.

But it is clearly the performances of the cast that make this film as powerful and affecting as it is. Julianne Moore is amazing in the titular role, and performs with such tenderness and realism that I found myself being drawn into the story from beginning to end. The high standard of her craft was acknowledged when she was not only nominated for, but won, the Academy Award for Best Actress. Not only that, but she earned the so-called Quintuple Crown: Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Critics' Choice Award and the BAFTA Award.

Lydia (Kristen Stewart).

There are brilliant performances from all the rest of the cast, but the other clear standout of this film is without a doubt Kristen Stewart, who is magnificent as Lydia, the daughter who becomes closer than ever to her mother while supporting her in her struggle. Before seeing this film - first on the big screen when it was released, and subsequently on many repeat viewings - I had only encountered Stewart in her portrayal of Bella Swan in the Twilight series. It is this film that in my mind establishes her as a serious actress, and a talent powerhouse; her role is so different from anything else I have seen her in before or since, and she treats the material with such deep respect, bringing her character to life in the most realistic way.

Directors Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland have made a truly beautiful film here, one that I have now seen more times than I could care to count (and will probably watch for many more times in years to come). Their handling of the subject matter is respectful above all else, and they both display knowledge and experience of appropriate pacing, tension and drama.

You absolutely must see this film as soon as possible if you haven't (or even if you have).

10 out of 10.

21 (2008)

Based on a book by Ben Mezrich, which was inspired by true events, this film tells the thrilling and fascinating story of a group of MIT students who won millions of dollars at casinos all across Las Vegas, counting cards at blackjack tables.

Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess) is a promising young student at MIT, studying mathematics and hoping to earn a scholarship to study medicine at Harvard. He has been accepted to study at Harvard, but will need a scholarship if he's to have any hope of being able to afford it.

Enter one of his lecturers, Micky Rosa (Kevin Spacey), who has seen his brilliance in class, and so recruits him to join a small group of students involved in some interesting extra-curricular activities.

Ben joins four other students: Jill (Kate Bosworth), Kianna (Liza Lapira), Choi (Aaron Yoo) and Fisher (Jacob Pitts) in a card-counting scheme that sees them net enormous amounts of money from casinos all over Las Vegas, a system devised by Rosa that is all but indetectable.

You see, while counting cards is by no means illegal, it is most certainly a practice that is frowned upon by virtually all casinos, because if done properly, it will cost casinos dearly.

It isn't long before Ben has made quite a tidy little pile of cash, which looks like it will more than cover his Harvard tuition.

But hot on their heels is casino security guard Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne), who has some past history with Rosa, and is certain the group is cheating the system somehow, but hasn't been able to catch them at it. Yet.

The screenplay by Peter Steinfeld and Allan Loeb is reasonably clever, with the system the team use explained in minute detail, so much so that anyone watching the film could probably start counting cards themselves without too much difficulty. The 'thriller' aspect of the script, however, is quite derivative and predictable, with no characters ever really surprising the audience, and no particularly clever twists one might expect from such a story.

David Sardy's music serves it purpose to an extent, but is not particularly inventive or clever or even unique at any point.

The performances of the entire cast are fairly lacklustre as well, with not even career performers Spacey or Fishburne able to express strong emotion by any method other than yelling, or shaking their fists. This is very disappointing, as many of the cast have portrayed quite complex characters in other films they have done, but in the case of this particular film, seem content to deliver their lines without a great deal of feeling.

Missy Stewart's production design, however, is beautiful. The scenes set on the casino floor are particularly well designed and dressed, with realism being the main intention. And it definitely has paid off.

The cinematography, too, courtesy of Russell Carpenter, works well here, though nothing particularly out of the ordinary for the genre. Light and dark are contrasted well, but no better than any other standard run-of-the-mill thriller.

Director Robert Luketic has made a fairly sub-standard thriller with this film. It is probably worth a watch (at least once) if you haven't seen it, particularly if you enjoy suspending your disbelief and watching a reasonably-paced thriller. But if you like your thrillers to have a few more twists, turns, surprises and - dare I say it - decent acting, I'd suggest you give this one a miss.

5 out of 10.