There are many wonderful moments in Sarah Polley’s feature directorial debut, Away From Her, but one moment between Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie encapsulates the entire film. Preparing to go out, Christie asks her husband how she looks and he says, “As always,” and when she asks him how that is he says:

Direct and vague, sweet and ironic.

The entire film has a pensive tone and the outlines of the relationship between the characters is gradually revealed. I found the film surprising, complex and moving. It’s a rare chance to see great actors acting their age in a story that never takes the easy way out.