Still Alice Lisa Genova

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Still Alice has a rating of 85% based on 206 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. The site's consensus reads, "Elevated by a gripping performance from Julianne Moore, Still Alice is a heartfelt drama that honors its delicate themes with bravery and sensitivity."[21] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a score of 72 out of 100, based on 41 critics.[22]

Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers wrote of "the blazing artistry" of Moore's performance, which he said was "alive with ferocity and feeling and committed to truth".[23] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle described Moore's portrayal of Alice as "convincing, disturbing and personal",[24] while Entertainment Weekly's Chris Nashawaty cited it as being "among her most devastating performances".[25] In a review for The Globe and Mail, Liam Lacey wrote of her "transparent emotional presence", though he felt that "the part [of Alice] barely scratches the surface of her ability".[26] The Daily Telegraph critic Tim Robey felt that Moore's "astonishingly delicate and sad" performance was one of her career highlights, and characterized the film as a whole as "gorgeous [and] piercing".[27]

Empire magazine's David Hughes gave Still Alice five out of five, highlighting Moore's "note-perfect performance" and Glatzer and Westmoreland's "sensitivity and scalpel-sharp precision".[28] Deborah Young, reviewing the film for The Hollywood Reporter, praised the directors' "restrained, understated approach" to the story, which she saw as "the best insurance against sloppy sentimentality".[29] The Los Angeles Times critic Kenneth Turan attributed the film's success to Moore and Stewart's ability "to keep things honest" despite parts of it seeming "contrived and overly familiar".[30] Peter Debruge of Variety complimented Glatzer and Westmoreland's "dignified" and "personal" approach to the subject matter, as well as their decision to tell the story from Alice's point of view.[31]

Other critics gave the film lukewarm reviews. A. O. Scott of The New York Times praised Moore's and Stewart's performances, but felt that the story was "too removed from life to carry the full measure of pain that Alice deserves".[32] The New Yorker critic Anthony Lane criticized Glatzer and Westmoreland for "flinch[ing]" when it came to showing Alice's deterioration and its effect on her family, and found the film's sentimental aspects "manipulative—and effective".[33] The Austin Chronicle's Josh Kupecki gave the film two and a half out of five, finding it clichéd and melodramatic, and likening it to a public service announcement.[34] Richard Roeper, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, described Moore as giving "a four-star performance in a two-star movie", drawing attention to the "intrusive" score and the "maddeningly overwrought and heavy-handed" storytelling.[35]

Accolades

For her performance as Alice Howland, Julianne Moore won the Academy Award, the BAFTA Award, the Critics' Choice Movie Award, the Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award, all for Best Actress. Still Alice marked her first Academy Award win after four previous nominations.[36] Although she was widely considered to be the Best Actress frontrunner in anticipation of the Academy Awards ceremony,[37] some critics felt that Still Alice was not among Moore's greatest performances and did not deserve to win.[38][39] Moore dedicated her Academy Award win to Glatzer, who died from ALS several weeks later on March 10, 2015.[6]