Still Alice
Short description
Alice Howland is a linguistics professor at Columbia University, married with three grown children and settled into a life she has built around language. She begins to lose words, then to lose her bearings on the streets of Manhattan, and the diagnosis she eventually receives is early-onset Alzheimer's disease, a rare and inherited form. The film follows what the illness does to her and to the people around her, including her husband John and her children Anna, Tom and Lydia, as the family's assumptions about the future give way to something none of them chose.
Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland directed and wrote the screenplay, the second feature they made together after The Fluffer in 2001; Westmoreland went on to direct Colette, Earthquake Bird and Heartstopper Forever. Julianne Moore plays Alice, with Alec Baldwin as John, Kate Bosworth as Anna, Hunter Parrish as Tom and Seth Gilliam among the credited cast.
Made for about 5 million dollars, the film took roughly 45 million worldwide, a strong return on a modest production. On IMDb it holds 7.5 out of 10 from around 150,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.5 from a few thousand, while the critics' rating stands at 7.4 from just over 200 reviews, placing professional and audience response in close agreement.
What's left behind the scenes
- The film was shot in 23 days, in chronological order.
- According to the novel's author, Lisa Genova, before Julianne Moore was cast in the lead role, the directors offered it to Michelle Pfeiffer, Julia Roberts, Diane Lane, and Nicole Kidman, but they all declined.
- Alice is depicted in the film as a compulsive Words With Friends player. Alec Baldwin, who plays the main character’s husband, was removed from a plane before takeoff in 2011 because he refused to stop playing the game and turn off his phone.
- The film is based on the book "Still Alice" by Lisa Genova.
- Director Richard Glatzer suffered from Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) and was unable to speak. He directed the film using a text-to-speech app on an iPad. At the Oscars ceremony, both directors were unable to attend due to Richard Glatzer's deteriorating health. This film was his last as a director. Richard passed away in March 2015. Julianne Moore and Kristen Stewart participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge, dedicating their water dousings to Glatzer.
- Lisa Genova, the author of the novel “Still Alice,” makes a brief appearance as a theatergoer in Lydia's play.
- The story of “Still Alice” is very similar to the 1985 film “Remembering Love,” starring Joanne Woodward as an English professor developing Alzheimer’s disease. Joanne won an Emmy for this role.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
