- Dying is hell - and Alvin's going to make sure everyone knows it. Academy Award nominees Seymour Cassell & Alfre Woodard star. AARP Movies for Grownups Award-winner.
- Alvin is a cantankerous old man in a hospice facility, trying to stay amused while he faces his inevitable end. He has memories of a wife he never knew how to love. As he gets to know his roommate Kevin, a young man with terminal cancer, he begins to reconsider what he has left in life. To everyone's surprise including himself, Alvin begins to embrace his final days when he falls in love with a woman who is also dying.—Timothy Shary
- The wonderfully irascible Alvin, unfogettably portrayed by the great Oscar Nominee Seymour Cassel, correspondingly makes life hell for everyone else around him as a terminally ill widower confined to his hospice bed. Reach for Me explores the age-old quandary of how we greet our final days-- and who will be there with us at the end. This is a stirring, life-affirming drama, with lots of comic relief an an excellent ensemble cast including Oscar Nominee Alfre Woodard and Golden Globe Nominee Adrienne Barbeau. The bright-shining love affair between Alvin's young roomie Kevin and his girlfriend Sarah (played by Johnny Whitworth and Lacey Chabert in beautifully crafted performances refreshingly free of false sentimentality) helps Alvin forgive himself and finally discover love that he never knew was so close at hand.
The Story
Elderly Alvin is rather content with his new living arrangements, despite the fact that they are a hospice facility. He enjoys agitating his nurse Evelyn, and jokes with his roommate Elliot.
One night, after exaggerating the sex they once knew in their younger days, Elliot dies while Alvin helplessly watches.
Alvin is assigned a new roommate, Kevin, a young man with terminal cancer. Alvin quickly grows jealous of the attention Evelyn gives to Kevin, and rather harshly rebuffs his attempts to be friendly.
Alvin then becomes suspicious when a young woman visits Kevin at night, appearing to perform sexual favors. Alvin later discovers that the young woman is Kevins wife Sarah, and not a prostitute as he had assumed.
Through dreams, Alvin imagines the frustration his wife had with him.
Even though Kevin cant eat (he has a feeding tube), Sarah brings him a nice Italian meal and describes it to him while Alvin listens. Alvin momentarily envisions himself having the dinner with his wife, then snaps out of the vision and swears at Evelyn, who becomes furious at him.
That night, with Sarah by his side, Kevin cries about his condition.
Sarah shows slides to Kevin and Alvin featuring her travels in Italy. Alvin warms up.
Sarah brings in a sheet for Kevin and Alvin to shoot paint on, and after some enjoyment, Alvin is stricken with pain.
Alvin has a vision of his wife, telling him to prepare for death by creating some good memories.
Alvin wanders off to visit another terminal patient, an attractive older woman named Valerie. They chat and flirt a little.
Sarah cries while praying over Kevin.
Alvin opens the door for Valerie to enter a tub room. He spies on her, and when she turns around topless, he sees that she is missing a breast.
Alvin begins talking to Valerie outside, and she suddenly leans in to kiss him.
Sarah plays a guitar and sings for Kevin a song called Tomorrow. He has memories of their happier times together. Alvin listens from his bed and remembers his wife, who scolds him again for not having faith.
Alvin sits down to watch some of A Farewell to Arms with Kevin, who asks him what they would do in a war with little time left. Alvin turns off the movie, saying he knows what happens.
Kevin desperately asks Alvin to manipulate his colostomy tube to clear his waste, and even though Alvin complains, they laugh about it.
Kevin tells Sarah that he envisions her life with someone new. She cries, and he tries to reassure her.
Alvin envisions telling his wife he never knew her, and asks why she left him.
Alvin goes to visit Valerie while she is sleeping, and quietly wakes her up. He reveals that he watched his wife shoot herself in the head on their 12th anniversary. Valerie invites him to lie down next to her, and she tries to reassure him.
Alvin and Valerie walk outside and talk. When they come back to his room, Alvin sees that Kevin is gone and becomes very upset.
Alvin and Valerie lie in bed together and chat with Evelyn.
Sarah speaks at Kevins funeral, and gives a card to Alvin from Kevin, which is for him to fill out when he gets there.
Alvin and Valerie set up a double bed in his room. They have given up their Do Not Resuscitate orders. They lie down together to watch some television, and canoodle.
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