Still Mine

Synopsis: Craig and Irene Morrison (James Cromwell and Geneviève Bujold), the aged couple at its centre (the end credits indicate that this is a true story)  are in their 80s, living in the farming community  of St. Martins in New Brunswick, Canada.  As Irene’s health starts to fail Craig decides to build a smaller, single level home on their 2,000 acre property so that they can be independent.  That is he intends to actually build it himself. Their children (Rick Roberts and Julie Stewart) object, but their father refuses to budge. Children are one thing but when Craig come up against the local council’s bureaucracy he finds that the world has well and truly moved on.

Although not as confronting as Sarah Polley’s Away From Her or Michael Haneke’s Amour, Still Mine is a touching account of an elderly couple’s struggle to cope with the passing of their days after spending 61 years together and raising seven children. 

Michael McGowan’s film is far from cloying but it does romanticize its subject matter in a well-worn cinematic tradition.  Craig is a tough but fair old bird (Cromwell  was 73 whilst his character is supposed to be 87) a devoted husband with serious handyman skills. Bujold is spry and well-kept, her early-onset dementia just beginning to manifest itself.  In setting the story of their loving relationship in the context of an owner-occupier fighting City Hall, for its target demographic Still Mine cleverly has two bites at the cherry. One the hand it tackles the inevitable problems of growing old but it also manages to be a feelgood David and Goliath story for senior citizens.  The result is genial film with charm and sincerity and distinguished by convincing performances all round. And that is hardly a bad thing, at least for those who can relate to the subject matter.

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