Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie create the most fascinating portrait of the august years of a marriage since Henry Fonda and Katherine Hepburn in On Golden Pond, 25 years ago.

In On Golden Pond, Hepburn's Ethel Thayer held things together as Fonda's Norman Thayer faced his inevitable decline; in Away from Her, the gender roles are reversed. Pinsent, doing some of his finest work ever, plays Grant Anderson, a retired college professor, who tends to Christie's Fiona when she develops Alzheimer's disease and begins to deteriorate.

Fonda and Hepburn won Oscars in 1982 for their work as the Thayers; Pinsent and Christie both deserve to be on the short list for 2007's Oscars - though unfortunately the less internationally famous Pinsent will likely be overlooked.

Recommended: Yes

Movie Mood: Serious Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing