WAITRESS AND AWAY FROM HER. Having seen Waitress and Away from Her at free New York Observer screenings, I've got to commend whoever "curates" the NYO events. The quality of the series continues to be pretty high--especially considering that this is a sponsorship situation. As for Waitress and Away from Her....

Waitress, as BAT readers know by now, was written and directed by the late Adrienne Shelly, who also acts in the movie. The story revolves around a waitress, played endearingly by Felicity's Keri Russell, who has a gift for pie-making and a yearning to flee her miserable marriage. Here's Adrienne Shelly on its origins.



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As someone who saw a lot of potential in Shelly from her movies with Hal Hartley, I would like to say that Waitress is a masterpiece, an instant classic. Instead, I will have to settle for recommending it as flawed but winning and worthwhile--something that Shelly could rightly be proud of creating. Featuring interesting storylines and strong acting (especially from Russell and Andy Griffith, whose big-screen track record is excellent albeit limited), Waitress has enough magic to inspire critic Nathan Lee to write, "What can I say? Maybe it's not my mind that's talking but my heart, which went out to the movie against all odds....Waitress won't set the world on fire, but it glows."

It's a shame that we will not be able to see Shelly continue to progress as an auteur. With that in mind, it seems very fitting that the mission of The Adrienne Shelly Foundation is "to do everything possible to help young women pursue their filmmaking dreams, and to assist others in making the same leap from acting to writing and directing as Adrienne had done so successfully."

Coincidentally, the writer-director of Away from Her is Sarah Polley, herself making the leap from thespian to auteur. Based on an Alice Munro story, this observant, deliberately paced, and well-received Canadian production follows a married couple as the Alzheimer's afflicted wife Fiona (played by Julie Christie) decides to check into a residence. Playing husband Grant is Gordon Pinsent, whom Armond White wisely likened to Ingmar Bergman actor Erland Josephson. Until I read White's remark, I hadn't realized how very much Polley's film resonates with Bergmanesque qualities. Here's Polley on the movie.



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Someone I know is fond of using the expression, "Once you've seen one case of Alzheimer's...you've seen one case of Alzheimer's." That saying comes to mind when I think of Away from Her. There are many aspects of Alzheimer's that ring true in the movie, but in some respects it is almost Utopian in the one case it follows. The story is certainly filled with pain (and some wonderfully humorous touches), but the prevalence of rational, thoughtful, and sensible behavior and decision-making would come across as a vision of paradise for the many people whose experience with Alzheimer's is marked by a big muddle of crises, conflict, confusion, confinement, tedium, violence, bureaucratic hassles, shifting responsibilities, legal and financial hurdles, and all manner of hygiene issues. Some of what makes the Away from Her situation distinctive is a story thing--it's just one Alzheimer's story, and fictional to boot--and some of it is probably a Canadian health system thing, but I know of at least one Canadian case that is far more complicated and painful than the one in the movie.

Just today, I got an appeal from the excellent New York City Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association that offers two case studies that show inadequacies in the current system for dealing with the condition.

Mrs. D is a ninety-six year old woman who has middle-to-late stage Alzheimer's disease. Her ninety-two year old sister with whom she has lived for most of her life was her sole caregiver. Mrs. D was recently hospitalized for several days. When she was released from the hospital she was deemed ineligible for Medicaid-funded home care even though her sister cannot possibly care for Mrs. D by herself any longer. A small grant from our Emergency Assistance Fund enabled the sisters to pay for a part-time aide until they could establish Mrs. D's Medicaid eligibility.

Mr. R is fifty-eight years old and has early onset Alzheimer's disease. He was always his family's primary breadwinner but he lost his job not long after he was diagnosed. His wife now works full-time and struggles to make ends meet. His son is away at college. Mr. and Mrs. R were rapidly depleting their life savings and their son's college fund to pay for his adult day care. This was not the future they had envisioned. A grant and later a grant extension from our Emergency Assistance Fund allowed Mr R to stay in day care until a comprehensive financial plan for the family's future could be developed.

The letter from the Alzheimer's Association states "Our Assistance Fund is nearly depleted, yet there is an urgent and ongoing need for this lifesaving service." The plea for donations states that "100% of your gift will go directly to the fund's grant recipients." Contributions earmarked for the Emergency Assistance Fund Campaign and made payable to the Alzheimer's Association, New York City Chapter can be sent to

Alzheimer's Association
New York City Chapter
360 Lexington Avenue, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10017