The irony's just too obvious, isn't it? Well, it is an unsubtle age, after all.

Well, actually, sometimes, it is. Go see "Away From Her", a movie written and directed by Sarah Polley. She deserves an Academy Award for being "Smartest Under-30-Year-Old Writer/Director-Working-Today". For that matter, I'd happily put her name up for "Smartest Writer/Director" period. It's a great movie. It's based on a short story by Alice Munro (in case you weren't aware of that), who is one of the best (or, if you like, the best) short story writers, um, ever. Her stories move along slowly and quietly until somehow, at the end, you realize she's been building a small nuclear bomb underneath you while you weren't looking, and she sets it off. Ms. Polley's movie is very true to this way of working. Quiet details, bits of everyday life anyone would be familiar with, eventually begin to reveal their deeper meanings, and the bomb goes off. Very, very quietly.

The stars are Gordon Pinsent, Julie Christie, Olympia Dukakis, and Michael Murphy. All of whom are, let's face it, old. And that's pretty much how they're shot - they look old. No soft focus. And they're playing people you know, living in homes you recognize, in neighbourhoods you recognize. It's not "Hollywood". Things aren't perfect.

The story involves Alzheimer's, marital infidelity, and - possibly - revenge. And yet, things work out - sort of. Go see it. You'll like it.