Le Second souffle

You're Not You (2014)

This is a straight forward drama, and an intense one. There are two main characters who are meant to be opposites in most ways. Kate (Hilary Swank) is wealthy, a successful classical musician, well mannered, and surrounded by friends. Bec (Emily Rossum) is struggling in every way: her half-finished folk-rock songs, her iffy friends, her bills, and her who-cares attitude. It's given from the get-go they will meet, and with the doubts of Kate's kindly handsome husband, Bec begins homecare for Kate, who is diagnosed early in the movie with ALS.

So this is really a story of a privileged woman learning about true friendship and caring, shorn of niceties. And of a troubled woman learning she has real worth and can actually contribute in a way that makes her grow. The two are never quite friends—there are things they just don't know about each other, and communication becomes harder through time— but they are absolutely devoted and bound to each other. This is beautiful and truly moving by the end. Tearjerker alert.

This is also a story about ALS, and how to cope, and how maybe to understand what people might need who are dying slowly of this disease—or any other progressively degrading illness. This too is difficult to watch.

Swank is terrific, and scary in her ability to be that victim just when life is all roses. Rossum comes off at first as not believable. Her antics and extreme disregard for things (the blender scene, for those who have seen it) are planted in the movie to make a point, and it almost made me move on. But hang in there! After half an hour the real movie begins, if you will, and the acting and writing all rise a level up.

It must be said that the husband plays an ongoing role here, and also a believable one. He is truly caring and tender, but also flawed. And so you see everyone has flaws, including Kate, who recognizes them in herself as much as others. Which gives it all the nuancing this movie needed to work.

It works. It isn't a surprising, twisting, drama by any stretch. Rather, it settles into telling us about a part of our real world with sensitive, beautiful detail.

The movie opens with Kate (Hillary Swank), a classically trained pianist. One night while she's playing Chopin's Polonaise, she finds it hard to keep her fingers moving correctly. When she tune is over, she sees her pinky and thumb slightly twitching. 18 months later, it turns out that Kate has ALS. Bec's (Emmy Rossum) life is a bit of a mess. She's a struggling singer/songwriter, hooks up with random guys for sex, oversleeps, and is not the most reliable of people. She auditions to be Kate's caregiver. Against Kate's husband's - Evan - (Josh Duhamel) objections, Bec is given the job, which proves to be...interesting at first. The two women begin to bond into a real friendship, especially after Kate's marriage falls apart.

The movie was very well done. The acting was superb, especially Swank, who performed a variety of symptoms associated with ALS, from the twitching of the fingers, to the dragging of the legs, to the slurred, incoherent speech, and the coughing attacks. Rossum plays a character very similar to her Fiona character from Shameless - a stranger to wealth, class and refinement. All the same, she has a heart of gold.

I gave this an 8-star rating because I like both Swank and Rossum, and they did a spectacular job in their roles. The supporting cast was good, even though the movie was basically about the journey the two lead actresses go through together. The script was good, as was the directing. My one nitpick about the movie is Bec never would've been given the job of Kate's caregiver to begin with. However, it's not a true story, and aside from that, it was a very good tear jerker of a movie.

Swank again with a very difficult role to pull off, but she has proved time and again that she can do it. It's no different this time around. Getting good support from the other actors (no pun intended), she works magic in this one too, in a very limiting role/character and one everyone can have sympathy and empathy for.

Not being able to use your whole body to express emotions or just to plain (inter)act with, is not easy, but something that Swank is doing a fine job with here. Rossums character is more of a wild card, but something that is needed. Someone to do the things Swanks character is not entirely able to do. A drama that is tough to watch, but very well made

This movie brought me to tears.

Our mother does not have ALS but very similar symptoms and she can not eat orally and has no skull bone in one part of her head, but to anyone suffering or caring for a loved one with ALS or does not understand the gravity of ALS, this movie is a must see.

This movies educates people, to some extent, about ALS and its destructiveness but also the hardships of caring for an individual with a crippling disease and what you can do to help an individual through music or swimming or just trying to do normal things like go out.

Brilliant acting on the path of both Hilary Swank and Emmy Rossum.

It's been a long time since I saw a movie that has moved me, the way this one did.

Hilary Swank outperforms with an amazing supporting performance by Emmy Rossum. Followed by a great male lead performance for Josh Duhamel. It is a moving and insightful look into the world of an ALS patient. The evolution of their relationship throughout the main character's condition was incredible. This movie delivers an amazing and emotional message that was clearly received. From someone who suffered the loss of a family member to this disease my opinion may be a little biased but this movie gave me a peek into a world unknown to myself. This is truly a staple in the drama genre. I have not seem a home run of a movie like this in many years.