Walk with Me movie review

MOVIE TITLE:     Walk with Me

This documentary about Early-Onset Alzheimer’s will be playing across the country, with special screenings at the Woodstock Film Festival and AFI Fest in October 2024.

RATING:    (documentary)  R for 3 F-bombs

LENGTH:      1 hour 29 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: A

IN A NUTSHELL:

This touching documentary is about a 57-year-old graphic designer, father, and community leader who discovers he has Early-Onset Alzheimer’s disease.  His faithful wife captures their journey and challenges in their new life together over 4 years in this film.

I knew this film would be hard for me to watch because my own mother passed away last year after struggling with Alzheimer’s for many years.

This documentary was written, directed, and produced by Heidi Levitt, who is a SAINT of a wife!  She has also created other documentaries over the years.

THINGS I LIKED:

•  I love Charlie’s sense of humor and positive outlook on life, despite his diagnosis.
• Charlie’s wife, Heidi, shows incredible devotion, research, and creative thinking in her approach to her husband’s disease.  In an interview, Charlie said about his wife, “Heidi’s a powerful person, but when this happened, she just kicked a$$.”
• It was Heidi’s idea to document her husband’s experience in this film.  She is determined to investigate the illness and find solutions.  We also learn that her mother has cognitive decline.
• We see the Levitt family in old video clips that capture Charlie’s exuberance for life, as Heidi tries to ensure their children remember their father as a vibrant man with a zest for life.
• The film does a great job of illustrating how difficult it can be for caregivers too.  A startling statistic shared in the film reveals that caregivers die sooner than people their own age, as well as often before the patient dies.
• We learn a lot about the tests and current research in this field of medicine through interviews with experts.
• We see maps that Charlie created years prior.  During the rolling credits at the end of the film, we see more maps and drawings he made as his illness progressed.  The symbolism of maps is perfect, as every person’s journey through Alzheimer’s is a winding road.  The analogy ties in beautifully with the title.
• You can see Charlie’s Instagram posts at ChessDesign
• You can learn more about the film at https://www.walkwithmedoc.com/

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

•  Because Alzheimer’s is such a cruel disease that robs people of their mental abilities and independence, and is relentless in its progression, the film can be depressing. 

TIPS FOR PARENTS:    

•  Kids will be bored, unless they’re older and they know someone with Alzheimer’s.
• Some profanity, including 3 F-bombs

THEMES:

•  Early-Onset Alzheimer’s disease
• Purpose in life
• Marriage
• The human spirit
• Resilience
• Strength
• Patience
• Positive outlook
• Change

FUNNY LINES: 

• At the end of the film, we see these words written on the screen by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1884:  “I have lost my faculties but I am perfectly fine.  I eat pie for breakfast every day.”

INTERESTING LINES:

• “We just don’t understand the brain as well as you would think.” – Marie Pasinski, MD (Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School)
• “The diagnosis isn’t the end of the story.  It’s just the next chapter.” – Joe Wallace (Photographer of The Day After Yesterday: Resilience in the Face of Dementia.
• “Sometimes, I feel like my children didn’t get to know the Charlie I fell in love with.” – Heidi Levitt
• “Alzheimer’s crept up and threw him.” – Heidi Levitt
• “I have decided that there’s no shame in this.  You can grow, and new things come out of it.  If you lose a part of your body, it regenerates and you figure out new ways to find the truth that you’re looking for.” – Charlie Levitt
• “The patient is doing the best they can.  And the caregiver is doing the best she can.” – Heidi Levitt
• “As much as Charlie is losing himself, sometimes I don’t see me.” – Heidi Levitt
• “I’m holding on to what he has left.” – Heidi Levitt
• “I still have the way he made me feel.” – Heidi Levitt

OTHER MOVIES LIKE THIS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:

• Still, Alice:  https://moviereviewmom.com/still-alice-moves/
• Sleeping Dogs:  https://moviereviewmom.com/sleeping-dogs-movie-review/
• Have You Heard About Greg?:  https://moviereviewmom.com/have-you-heard-about-greg-movie-review/

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