Everyone should admire Sarah Polley. She’s smart, unconventionally beautiful (that’s not some euphemism like “she has a cute face” or “a really great personality.” She is beautiful, she just doesn’t look like every other girl that hangs out at the Coffee Bean at Sunset and Fairfax during the middle of the day), takes risks and genuinely shuns the easy/obvious way out. Now she’s made a feature film debut that reflects all those qualities.
AWAY FROM HER is a romantic drama about Alzheimer’s that’s nothing like the Lifetime movie you imagine. This film is ethereal, beguiling and a bit challenging. The exact same can be said of Julie Christie’s performance. PR people call this kind of role “Oscar bait,” but, thankfully, this film won’t make you feel like you’ve been hooked.
All that said, there are some problems with this picture. The first thirty minutes feel extremely awkward in every respect (from the performances to the visual design and all places inbetween). The script (also by Sarah) is often too spot on; less would have been more. While Julie Christie really takes flight after the first third of the film, her two supporting actors can’t seem to hit the same dramatic high notes, most especially (and surprisingly) Olympia Dukakis. Think of it as watching a basketball game where you see the whole team working hard but there’s that one player that seems to float from basket to basket, as if they were imbued with the magical powers of flight and grace.
But, truly, these things don’t matter. This film has a simple, powerful and well thought-out approach to a subject that could have been terribly maudlin. As the film get closer to release (early May, at this point), read the interviews with Sarah, bask in her intelligence and compassion, and know that you’ll be seeing one of the most straight-forward yet unconventional films of the year.
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