Isn't She Lovely

The tragedy of mental illness is that it attacks the very qualities that make us human--our thoughts, emotions, and abilities to communicate and interact with others. Isn't She Lovely chronicles filmmaker Kerry Lynn Eleveld and her brother Rob's coming to terms with their mother's growing mental health problems. When Kerry was 12, her mother Lynn began to show signs of mental illness, and though Lynn went through periods of stabilization and apparent wellness, it was clear some 15 years later that she was--according to Kerry--"never coming back." As a social worker with a career--at a time when many women were stay-at-home moms--Lynn knew how to manipulate the system and therefore managed to avoid long term institutionalized care. At first, Kerry and Rob try to understand what is happening to their mother. Schizoid personality? Bipolar disorder? Some other form of psychosis? When it becomes clear that even the doctors can't get a grip on what to call it, Kerry decides that maybe they should stop trying to “cure” Lynn, or “fix the problem,” and just enjoy their mother while they can. There's an old proverb that says a tragedy shared is cut in two, and I think that applies in this touching portrait. Viewers who have experienced the mental decline of a loved one will take some comfort in the fact that they are not alone. Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Asala)