the movieGOOMBA

2.5 GOOMBAS

When I was little, my mom use to own a Board and Care, which is sort of like a nursing home. It was just a normal one-story house with four bed rooms and it housed six elderly “clients.” There was this one 80-year-old man named Manuel. He always wore this bright yellow baseball cap and loved to walk around the house in a speedy-like manner. He never had a destination. He just liked to keep moving. Unfortunately, I didn’t really get to know him because he didn’t really understand who or what I was. He had Alzheimer’s disease, and because he loved to walk, he’d sometimes make a break for it; he’d leave the house, wander the streets, and sadly, get lost. As a kid, I just assumed that this was what came with getting old; memory loss, but as I got older I started to understand the magnitude of that loss.

Unlike The Notebook’s sappy interpretation of Alzheimer's mercilessness, Away From Her brings humanity and reality to the disease. Staring a very classy Julie Christie and television actor, Gorden Pinset, Fiona and Grant are an older couple still terribly in love. Tragically, Fiona is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, and she makes the decision to move into a nursing home for those in her condition. However, the nursing home’s policy is that residents have no visitors or phone calls for 30 days. For Grant, that was the tipping point. He didn’t want her there, let alone be away from her for more than a few days. Fiona is persistent with her decision, and Grant grudging leaves her there. Sadly, when Grant returns on the 31st day, Fiona no longer remembers him and has formed a new bond with another resident.

As much as I felt the love between Grant and Fiona, the movie had mixed messages. It illustrated all the sanctity of love and devotion, yet showed where how it faltered. He loves her and would give her anything that would make her happy, but he wasn't always faithful. There was a nurse who befriends Grant during his loneliness, yet at times belittles him. There's this woman who Grant starts hanging out with, and she despises him and is whole-heartedly rude to him. Yet the next thing you know, she asks him out on a date. All the while, Fiona is in this nursing home because she doesn't think her husband could handle taking care of her, but the effect of being apart is causing more stress to Grant and no real help to Fiona's health. (Don't worry folks; no spoilers here. All this stuff is in the trailer). There is a very real possibility that the filmmakers were going for a human flaw theme, which is entirely feasible. However, these contradicting situations, left me frustrated, let down, and miserable. Lastly, I think the ending was suppose to be hopeful, but with all the happenings, it just sort of left me uneasy and nervous about my future as a senior citizen.