Lovely, Still
**
Lovely, Still nf– We find it very difficult to discuss this movie without revealing the entire story which we will warn you when we do. We are presented with Robert Malone, an old lonely man (Martin Landau ) who lives alone but still is working everyday in a supermarket. (This Oscar winning veteran actor was about 80 at the time he made the film but he was made to look on the older side of his age.) It is Christmas season and we see him place a present under his tree for himself. Mary, an equally older woman (Ellen Burstyn) who looks much more attractive for her age moves next door with her daughter (Elizabeth Banks). The moving truck has barely pulled away when she presents herself to his door (actually, she walks in since it was open) and within a few minutes has asked him out for a “dateâ€Â He is smitten with her and she seemingly with him. He doesn’t know what he should do for a date and his store manager (Adam Scott) arranges a great place to dine and his co-workers give him advice how to act. We got the feeling that the writers Tim Kasher and writer /director Nicholas Facker were giving us their version of how they imagine older folks would respond when they fall in love. They declare their love for each other after knowing each other for two days They go sled riding down a hill together and take a ride through the city streets in a horse drawn carriage. They are shown to be totally preoccupied with each other . They call each other as soon as they wake up and in a few days they are sleeping in the same bed. When they exchanged Christmas presents she accidentally opened the present that he was planning to give himself and it was gun. He tearfully acknowledged he was going to kill himself because he was so lonely , but of course not any more. All we can say is that despite the skill of these actors it certainly didn’t look real to us ! Spoiler Alert !! Don’t read further if you plan to see this movie which we don’t really recommend. There was a clue. In between scenes there was this spidery, fluffy, stringy material of a reddish color that would occupy the screen –with “strange music“ in the background when it was shown. There were some confusing incidents where Mary accidentally spilled her own medicine down the drain and couldn’t get her prescription filled right away because her doctor was out of town (this was to mislead us) We then see her fill her prescription and sneak in and put it in Robert’s medicine cabinet. He never takes the pills but gets to Mary’s house. We see the pictures on the wall are of him as the store owner/manager, his wife and his children. He collapses and goes to the hospital. There it becomes clear that his girl friend is his wife, the present store manager is his son and Mary’s daughter is his daughter. The spidery fluffy stuff must have been the interweaving cells of the brain that were in trouble with this man. We figure that it must be some weird brain disease (we were never told) where he can’t remember his past but yet his short term memory is o.k. We can appreciate that this movie worked for some people and it received some decent reviews. It used this storyline to show a love that had been lost by a ravishing brain disease was able to be rekindled and experienced as a first love. This is tender, touching and is a wonderful thought. We never heard of such a case but anything can happen in the movies! ( 2010)
Category: 2 Stars, Drama, Romance | Tags: 2012, Adam Scott, brain disease, Elizabeth Banks, Ellen Burstyn, Lovely Still, Martin Landau, Nicholas Facher, TIm Kasher 5 comments »
December 11th, 2016 at 6:51 AM
I find your review remarkably hard to understand, having just watched this movie because a film professor from Columbia University aired it locally.
My father had Alzheimer’s/dementia for many years before he died, for a coupleof them I lived with my parents before we had to put him in a home. This film so brilliantly depicted the horrors of dementia, by showing Alex as a young girl crying when her father didn’t know who she was, by a wife who has to strategically act and emotionally handle trying to remain so close to the man she loves and married and yet has to act as if they are just meeting each other. The you g producer must have had dealt with Alzheimer’s/dementia personally and for those who have this movie is quite brilliantly done, as it brings you through the sufferer’s own viewpoint of having a lonely life, saying that he never had christmas with anyone before, wrapping himself a gun as a present because he was so lonely, yet his wife and daughter live across the street. It is so heartbreaking to live through but this movie just really hit home and definitely moved me to plenty of tears. I was just shocked to read your write up of a “werid/ravishing” brain disease and “that you never heard of such a case” with how prevalent Alzheimer’s/dementia, that you wouldnt realize this, very unfortunately is very realistic, horrofic and heartbreaking to live through & pretty common……( We appreciate that you found a connection to the storyline and the overall film and were not bothered by the issues that we brought up.Thank you for taking the time to write us – MB & SB )
February 15th, 2017 at 6:09 AM
The heart-to-heart connection we call ‘true love’ is eternal. Everything else in this temporal world is, by definition, temporary. Only when we open our hearts to our Creator can we truly love each other. This love binds us both in this world and the world to come. It goes beyond the limitations of time and space and demonstrates the power of unity through the giving of ourselves to those we love. This love for one other is an acknowledgement of our Creator’s love for us, and is truly only possible if we open our hearts to His love. As we are drawn nearer our Creator by love for Him, the connection with those we truly love remains secure throughout all the worlds of God.
Happy Saint Valentine’s Day!
September 4th, 2018 at 10:12 PM
What a bizarre review. You’ve never heard of Alzheimers?!? You call it a “weird brain disease” ?!? Are you 12?! LOL OMG read a newspaper once in a while; you might learn something.
September 16th, 2018 at 9:09 PM
Thank you for your friendly direct comment. Usually Alzheimers Disease starts with short term memory problems which is usually more severe than long term memory
which of course eventually becomes significant. I didn’t think this presentation was typical of Alzheimers and was more unusual ( and made it a more interesting movie)
January 6th, 2019 at 5:37 AM
This movie depressed me as the movie progressed because I suspected he had Alzheimers disease. It bothers me so much now because my husband is in the first, almost second, stage of Dementia, and to be presented as to what to expect in the coming years was a shock to me! This is the first time I have been directly affected by Dementia/Alzheimers.