Seth Rogen has recently achieved deserved success for his hyperstylistic new satire The Studio, which some may view as an “elevated” comedy compared to the grass and sass of his earlier work, a delightful cinema of bud and buds including Superbad, This Is the End, and Pineapple Express. If you think The Studio is different for Rogen, then you might be gobsmacked by Taking Care, a short film by the great James Keach which features Rogen but mainly spotlights his wife, Lauren Miller Rogen, and the couple’s personal and professional relationship with Alzheimer’s. Seth and Lauren met in their 20s, and it wasn’t long before Lauren’s mother, a beloved teacher named Adele Miller, developed younger-onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 55. Adele would lose most of her independence within the next five years.
James Keach, who has had a fascinating career both in front of and behind the camera, had previously directed the beautiful 2014 documentary Glen Campbell: I’ll Be Me and the 2019 medical documentary Turning Point, both of which explored Alzheimer’s. With Keach, the Rogens (who have been raising money for Alzheimer’s research and care for years, specifically with their organization Hilarity for Charity) found the perfect filmmaker to help raise awareness about the disease. Keach recently spoke with MovieWeb about the film, and described how the whole thing came about. Taking Care is available to watch on digital platforms like Apple TV, Amazon, and more. Find it here.
“Nancy Lynn — who’s with Bright Focus Foundation, and who is my significant other — she met Bonnie Wattles, who was part of the Hilarity for Charity organization,” explained Keach. “And they had all seen [the] Glen Campbell [documentary], and they had seen Turning Point, and they knew that, as a filmmaker, I probably knew more about Alzheimer’s than I wanted to.” Keach added:
“They had assembled all this material over the years of their mother’s demise, and they brought it to me and said, ‘James, this is a really dark story, and we’d like to bring some light to it in some way, and figure out how to tell it in a way that is still the gnarly truth.’ I mean, Lauren Miller Rogen was very determined that this not make Alzheimer’s seem like something that’s curable, that’s not tragic, and yet it’s still a family disease.”
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‘The Studio’ is a genuinely funny and brilliantly directed TV show, one of the few projects that tries to be clever and is.
Taking Care comes at an extremely important time when medical and scientific funding is being gutted by a cadre of anti-government oligarchs intent on diverting billions of tax dollars into their pockets. We asked Keach whether he was concerned about the state of Alzheimer’s research under this administration, and if we’re at risk of falling behind in the race for a cure. “Absolutely, yes,” said Keach without trepidation. “I’m worried about science in general, and specifically about Alzheimer’s and research grants. I mean, when you cut grants to universities… It’s short-sighted, to say the least. You know, it’s not specific. There’s nothing specific about it.
The Ballad of Lauren Miller & Seth Rogen
Along with showcasing the devastating impact of Alzheimer’s and the great charity and medical work that is being done, Taking Care is also a tender study of the romance at the heart of the film between Seth and Lauren Miller Rogen. “I found the story of their courtship, the 10 years that they took care of their mom and their dad, and they all took care of one another, to be very inspirational,” said Keach. “And it really showed the gnarly truth. When you see some of the footage of her mom, you see the progression of Alzheimer’s.” He went on:
I think Seth and Lauren really wanted young people to really understand what their future could be like with their parents, even themselves, if they did not get involved with taking care of themselves and learning about caregiving, and also learning about the science of this and maybe making a difference in some ways.
“I think it’s fascinating what they’ve been through,” Keach continued. “I mean, I think it’s extraordinary actually, that as young people, when they were first coming together, that they were caregivers, and they did that job, and they obviously, as they say in the film, they’re blessed that they have money, that they’re able to do something about it. But they also dealt with this, and their dad dealt with this, and their brother dealt with it. And it’s hard, man, it’s really hard, and it’s extraordinary that their bond was so strong that it kept them together. They stayed together. They’re still together. And out of this whole thing, they created Hilarity for Charity, which is, I think, a fantastic organization.”
You can find more information about Hilarity for Charity here, and you can learn how to take action with Taking Care here.
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