94. What They Had; movie review
Cert 15
101 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language
The crumpling experience of having to deal with a relative who is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease has befallen all too many of us.
Fortunately, however, my family has not faced the added conundrum of a spouse who doesn't want their other half to have full-time nursing care.
Such is the scenario in Elizabeth Chomko's What They Had - a semi-autobiographical account of a family being both brought together and torn apart by the fall-out of the terrible disease.
It stars Hilary Swank as a daughter who is called across America when her mother, Ruth (Blythe Danner), goes missing in the middle of the night.
Already out searching for her are her father, Burt (Robert Forster), and brother (Michael Shannon) who have opposing views about the future care of her mum.
Ruth and Burt have been together 60 years and her husband refuses to consider her moving to a nursing home even though her advanced condition means she cannot always remember who he is.
Their son is convinced that the current living arrangements are no longer tenable and wants them to move, not just for his mum's sake but also for that of his father who has suffered multiple heart attacks.
Indeed, as the movie progresses he moves from frustrated to infuriated by his dad's stance.
Chomko's pictured has damaged characters whose own flaws add dimensions to an already upsetting situation.
The cast makes the movie.
Swank excels as a woman who is caught on the cusp of indecision when it comes to her parents but makes all the wrong calls towards her college-aged daughter (Taissa Farmiga).
The ever-reliable Shannon is much more clear-thinking but is consequently perceived as bombastic.
Meanwhile, Forster is convincing as the husband whose intransigence is based on love rather than reason.
At the centre of the hubbub is Danner whose portrayal is frighteningly realistic.
It is a picture which I fear will resonate with too many families who know there are no clear solutions.
But ask me whether I would choose to watch a movie about the horrors of Alzheimer's if I weren't trying to review every film and I am pretty sure I wouldn't.
Reasons to avoid: Some might find it too depressing
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10
Did you know? More than five million Americans are living with Alzheimer's. By 2050, it's estimated there will be as many as 16 million Americans living with Alzheimer's. Every 66 seconds someone in the United States develops Alzheimer's. One in three Americans dies with some form of dementia.
The final word. Elizabeth Chomko: "It is definitely personal—inspired by my grandparents, my family, and what we all went through coping with my grandmother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis and loving her through all the subsequent memory loss and the ways in which it sort of—the caring for her—caregiving—the way in which it brought us to closer together and pulled us all apart." Slash Film
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