This movie is a hopeful, positive, and funny version of the descent into memory loss which is just one facet of Alzheimer’s disease.  You may say there is no humor in that subject, however the writer and director of this movie handle it carefully and artfully.  It uses a very different way of approaching the subject with laughter and tears.

Two unlikely people who are strangers meet for lunch.  Emma Payge (Tiffany Haddish), a young black woman, meets a white veteran comedy writer, Charles Burnz (Billy Crystal).   She uses her ex-boyfriend’s $22 raffle ticket and of course Billy is not thrilled with the idea that somebody spent so little money to lunch with him.

Charles is a comedy supervisor for a television show similar to Saturday Night Live with different actors/comedians acting out skits written for them.

Emma is a popular street singer who works with a small band which makes money from donations.  Tiffany Haddish did her own singing in this movie, singing funny songs like “Your Feet’s Too Big”.  She did a great job singing upbeat songs which drew crowds.  Her band was great also.

Charles and Emma start hanging around so much together that they become friends.   Emma and her band get an offer to tour in another state.  

Charles had developed a way to walk to work every day by memorizing the exact route.   But, one day construction blocking his usual route sends him into a panic holding up traffic.   His memory is getting so bad that he has to consult Dr. Vidor (Anna Deavere Smith).

Once Emma finds out about Charles’ inability to remember things, she decides to set aside her music career to take care of him.   “There are people outside blood can call family.” (quote from the movie)  This is the only part that is not believable to me for a couple who has not known each other long, but Emma is a person who gets along easily with most people.

Like in a horror movie I was hollering at the screen for Charles to “tell your children before its too late.”   He thinks that his children blame him for their mother’s death so he doesn’t want to tell them that he has been developing Alzheimer’s in the past few months.

I watched it on DVD 3 times.

Six other movies I’ve seen with an Alzheimer’s theme and loved them all:

“Iris” (2001) stars Dame Judith Dench and Jim Broadbent.    True story of English novelist Iris Murdoch’s descent into Alzheimer’s disease and the unconditional love of her partner of 40 years.

“The Notebook” (2004) stars Ryan Gosling and James Garner; Rachel McAdams and Gena Rowlands.  The movie goes from a young couple’s parents not wanting them to get together to their old age when the wife no longer recognizes her husband and he has to put her in a home to keep her safe.   But, she no longer knows him as anything but a stranger.  So he makes sure she reads the notebook daily until she remembers him.   But, he has to do it each time he visits.

“Away from Her” (2006) stars Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent.   A wife is in a living facility and forgets who her husband is and starts a relationship with another man there.

“The Leisure Seeker” (2017) stars Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland.   An elderly man with Alzheimers and his wife travel in a new RV until they realize that they don’t want to travel any more and take the situation into their own hands.

“What They Had” (2018) stars Blythe Danner and Hilary Swank.   A mom wanders off to do what she is used to doing.   Her adult children have to decide what to do about mom’s safety.

“The Father” (2020) stars Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman.   An elderly father imagines living with a daughter and a son-in-law as well as himself living on his own.   Just when you think a scene is one way, it switches to the opposite way you just saw because the director wants you to see both sides.

Great sources:

Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Maryland, 1850 York Road D, Lutherville-Timonium, MD 21093.  410-561-9099.   I attended virtually 4 sessions presented by the Alzheimer’s Association’s (alz.org) 17^th Annual Pythias A. and Virginia I. Jones African American Community Forum on Memory Loss on November 6, 13, 20 and December 4, 2021, each 10-11:30 a.m.  A lot of experts presented expert research, statistics, exercise demos, nutrition talks, etc.   The sessions were not dull.

AARP, “Dementia vs. Alzheimers—How to Tell the Difference”, Kathleen Fifield, June 15, 2020, http://www.aarp.org/dementia/alzheimer’s

Written by Rosa L. Griffin