“Still Alice” movie quotes follows the story of a renowned linguistics professor who struggles to deal with an early onset Alzheimer’s Disease diagnosis. The drama film was written and directed by Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland as adapted from the novel of the same name by Lisa Genova. “Still Alice” opened in theaters in the United States on January 16, 2015.
In “Still Alice,” Dr. Alice Howland (Julianne Moore) is a top linguistics professor who finds herself losing words in the middle of lectures, inexplicably getting lost on a familiar campus and having trouble remembering people and things like appointments. Alice visits a neurologist who diagnoses her with early onset Alzheimer’s Disease, something quite rare for her young age.
Being quite the intellectual person, Alice struggles with this diagnosis, as do her family members including husband John (Alec Baldwin), daughters Lydia (Kristen Stewart) and Anna (Kate Bosworth) and son Tom (Hunter Parrish). But as Alice tries to take care of loose ends while her mental capacity is still with her, she also learns how to savor life, disease or not.
“Still Alice” is just one of several award-nominated films from 2014 alongside ”The Wedding Ringer,” ”Blackhat,” ”Taken 3,” ”Predestination,” ”A Most Violent Year,” ”The Interview,” ”Unbroken,” ”American Sniper,” ”Into the Woods,” ”Big Eyes,” ”The Gambler,” ”The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” ”Annie,” ”Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb,” ”Mr. Turner,” "Life Partners," "Comet," "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1," and "Horrible Bosses 2.
Still Alice Movie Quotes,
I Don't Have to Be Fair
Dr. Alice Howland: “I’d like you to go to college.”
Lydia Howland: “You can’t just use your situation to get me to do everything that you want.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “Why can’t I?”
Lydia Howland: “But it’s not fair.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “I don't have to be fair. I'm your mother.”
Again, Alice pushes the idea of college on daughter Lydia but Lydia pushes back, citing how Alice using her illness as leverage isn’t fair. As Alice points out though, mothers are often immune to rules about fairness.
I Am Not Suffering
Dr. Alice Howland: “I am not suffering. I am struggling, struggling to be a part of things, to stay connected to who I once was. So live in the moment I tell myself. It’s really all I can do. Live in the moment.”
Having found a new level of enlightenment in her disease, Alice speaks about how she’s chosen to live her life. She is struggling, but also mindful to enjoy the moments she has.
We Have to Keep the Important Things in Our Lives Going
Dr. Alice Howland: “I hate that this is happening to me.”
John Howland: “We have to keep the important things in our lives going. We have to try or we’re going to go crazy.”
Alice is angry with how the disease is taking its toll on her life and the lives of those around her. But, as John mentions, they need to focus on the important things while she can as focusing on the negatives will only make it worse.
Butterflies Don't Live a Very Long Time
Dr. Alice Howland: “When I was, um, a little girl, I was in second grade, my teacher told me that butterflies don’t live a very long time, that they live like a month or something and I was so upset so I went home and told my mother and she was like ‘yeah, but you know, they have a nice life. They have a really beautiful life.’ and it always makes me think about my mother’s life and my sister’s life and to a certain extent, my own.”
Lydia Howland: “You are going to be around for a long time, mom.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “Yes, yes”
Alice uses a story about a childhood memory to parallel her current situation. Her life may be short, but, like the butterfly, it can be a very nice one.
What Does It Actually Feel Like?
Lydia Howland: “What’s it like? Like, what does it actually feel like?”
Dr. Alice Howland: “Well, it’s not always the same. I have, uh, good days and I have bad days. On my good days, I can, you know, almost pass for a normal person. But on my bad days, I feel like I can’t find myself. I’ve always been so defined by my intellect, my language, my articulation and now sometimes I can see the words hanging in front of me and I can’t reach them and I don’t know who I am and I don’t know what I’m going to lose next.”
Lydia Howland: “That sounds horrible.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “Thanks for asking.”
Daughter Lydia asks about how Alice feels in her battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Alice explains and is appreciative that Lydia took the time to ask her. The two might not see eye to eye on all things but can agree that this is not pleasant.
Going to College
Dr. Alice Howland: “Don’t you think it’s time you reconsidered things? You’re so smart. There’s so much more you could be doing with your life.”
Lydia Howland: “Like going to college?”
Dr. Alice Howland: “Yes, yes, like college!”
Lydia Howland: “Like we’ve never talked about that before every single day of my life. I figured out what I wanted to do and I’m doing it. That’s a good thing.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “But on whose dime?”
Lydia Howland: “You’re helping Tom with med school. You helped Anna with law school…”
Dr. Alice Howland: “Sweetheart, those are real careers. I just don’t want you to limit your choices.”
Lydia Howland: “You want to make my choices.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “No, I don’t.”
Lydia Howland: “I’m really happy.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “I’m sorry, I don’t, I don’t want to argue about this. Forget I said anything.”
Lydia Howland: “It’s forgotten.”
Alice tries one more time to talk to Lydia about attending college. Lydia has no interest in that and is quite happy in her current life. Defeated, Alice gives up and drops the subject.
Where The Hell Were You?
Dr. Alice Howland: “I hope to convince you that by observing these baby steps into the… into…”
…
John Howland: “Alice, where they hell were you?”
Dr. Alice Howland: “I went for a run.”
John Howland: “Well, I hope you enjoyed that because you completely blew our dinner plans.”
When Alice notices that she is losing her word during speeches and finds herself lost on campus during a run, which makes her late for a planned dinner with husband John, she begins to recognize that something may be wrong with her mind. She is, however, not immediately prepared for the diagnosis.
Alzheimer's Disease, Early Onset
Tom Howland: “What’s going on?”
Dr. Alice Howland: “Oh boy”
Lydia Howland: “Are you guys going to break up… or?”
Dr. Alice Howland: “No, no, it’s nothing like that.”
Anna Howland-Jones: “Mom, are you sick?”
Dr. Alice Howland: “I’ve been seeing a neurologist for the past few months and I have Alzheimer’s Disease, early onset.”
Tom Howland: “That, that doesn’t make sense. Are you sure?”
John Howland: “There was no doubt. She has the disease.”
Tom Howland: “But at her age it’s…”
John Howland: “It is rare but it has been confirmed.”
Anna Howland-Jones: “You’re so young, mom. I don’t understand that.”
Lydia Howland: “I did notice one or two things. You didn’t know Tom’s girlfriend when she came over on Christmas and…”
Anna Howland-Jones: “Lydia”
Tom Howland: “What medications are you on?”
Dr. Alice Howland: “Right now I’m on Aricept and Namenda.”
Tom Howland: “They can help slow the progress.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “No”
John Howland: “I’m afraid not. They can help alleviate the symptoms.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “But the thing, the thing is, that, John, the thing is that the type of Alzheimer’s I have is very rare. It’s familial. It’s passed on genetically.”
Anna Howland-Jones: “My god”
John Howland: “We believe that she got it from her father and, of course, we’re very worried that about the three of you. Now, there is a test you can take but it’s completely up to you whether you want to find out or not.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
John and Alice inform their children about Alice’s diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s Disease. The spectrum of emotions are all represented from denial to anger to sadness.
I've Got Something Wrong With Me
Dr. Alice Howland: “John, hello, sweetheart, wake up.”
John Howland: “What time is it?”
Dr. Alice Howland: “I need to talk to you. I’ve, um, I’ve got something wrong with me.”
John Howland: “What are you talking about?”
Dr. Alice Howland: “I’ve been seeing a neurologist.”
John Howland: “You’ve been seeing a neurologist why?”
Dr. Alice Howland: “They think that it might be early onset Alzheimer’s Disease.”
John Howland: “Honey, honey, that doesn’t make any sense at all.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t know anything for sure. They’ve been doing all these tests and I’ve really scared.”
John Howland: “That is completely insane.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “I got lost while I was running on campus a while ago and I can’t, I can’t remember appointments, words.”
John Howland: “Honey, we all have memory lapses. That’s a sign of getting older. the other day, I couldn’t remember the word, um, glucose.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “It’s not like that. It’s like something drops out.”
John Howland: “But there is no diagnosis yet.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “Okay”
John Howland: “Well then I think that this is ridiculous. It’s complete bulls***.”
Dr. Alice Howland: “Dammit! Why won’t you take me seriously?! I know what I’m feeling. I know what it’s feeling and it feels like my brain is f***ing dying and everything I’ve worked for in my entire life is going. It’s all going.”
Alice wakes husband John to tell him of her potential condition as early onset Alzheimer’s Disease. With her being so young, he laughs off this idea as ridiculous, which only enrages Alice.