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This review was originally published during the Sundance Film Festival.
Chomko painted a larger picture.
Memory, she said, is a gift were given.
I dont want to take it for granted.
Nicky is being eaten alive by multiple stressors.
He has poured all his money into a high-toned bar that his father has never deigned to visit.
And he feels that he alone bears the responsibility for his mothers well-being.
Bert is a stubborn cuss.
Actually, cuss is the exact wrong word.
Also, he adores her.
The subtext (andUber-text) ofWhat They Hadis the impact of such an overbearing father on his childrens self-esteem.
Bert also insists on belittling Nicky a bar owner by calling him a bartender.
Nicky hectors her, she squirms, Nicky hectors her, she squirms, and nothing happens.
Because nothing happens for a while doesnt meanWhat They Haddroops.
Swank manages the difficult task of lookingpowerfullyindecisive i.e., animating her inaction, making you feel her inner struggle.
Shannon I cant begin to praise enough.
Nicky is often hilariously rude and often just rude.
Blythe Danner has the difficult task of responding to everything and registering almost nothing.
She does it beautifully, with lyricism.
Perhaps theres something romanticized about her forgive me blitheness.
I dont know, not having observed enough people with Alzheimers.
to a little girl who wants to go home is heartbreaking.
Forster, meanwhile, anchors the movie.
(They appear in a photograph, of course.)
Those moments are always double-edged, though.
