28 Days Review
by "Alex Ioshpe" (ioshpe AT online DOT no)October 12th, 2000
DIRECTED BY: Betty Thomas
WRITTEN BY: Susannah Grant
CAST: Sandra Bullock, Domenic West, Elizabeth Perkins, Steve Buscemi
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving substance abuse, language and some sensuality. RUNTIME: USA:103
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RATING: 4/10
"Alcohol and drugs = bad. Not alcohol and drugs = good. Got it?"
Just when you though you've seen enough of brave young women dealing
with their personal problems on screen, be that insanity or
alcoholism, Hollywood releases yet another one of those 'deep,
emotional stories about finding yourself'..
'28 Days' is practically a visualization of the usual 'meaningful'
true stories that people are so proudly retelling at
AA-meetings. Gwennie (Sandra Bullock) is a young woman who drowned her
problems in alcohol. For her life was a big party, with no beginning
and no end. This behavior has of course estranged her from her only
sister and from life itself. Her existence is filled with endless
parties and comic episodes. Such as when she got drunk with boyfriend
Jasper (Dominic West), borrowed her sister's (Elizabeth Perkins )
wedding limo and crashed it into someone's house. This time she had to
pay with a 28 day stay in court-ordered rehab. Here she must realize
that the only thing that can save her is her is redemption, willpower
and commitment. Most important she must realize her place and
direction in life and understand that her life is not just a big
party.
The film itself feels like a rehab program, whining and moaning about
things that have been said and written a million times. It is a
classic cautionary tale. An echo. A big, fat and expensive cliché. A
shadow of last year's 'Girl, Interrupted', which likewise followed in
the footsteps of great masterpieces like 'The Cuckoo's Nest' and
'Trainspotting'. Director Betty Thomas has stuffed her film with so
many failures and errors, that it is impossible to sum them all up in
one review. For some paranoid reason she decided to make her film a
drama/comedy. Jokes and funny characters almost deliberately delude
you from the really important and complex issues: alienation, despair,
terror, confusion, loneliness. And what awesome power and strength of
character it actually takes to overcome all that and become
clean. Isn't that what the filmmakers wanted to show in the first
place? Even the transition process itself seems like a walk in the
park. Betty Thomas' idea of hell is a cozy, homey place where happy
alcoholics and cheerful drug addicts are not allowed to smoke, drink
or watch TV after 11. It is simply too light, simplified and
unnecessary sweet to be taken seriously. But the worst thing about it
is that it actually thinks that it is saying something of
significance. That it actually tries to educate the audience with its
extremely predictable and primitive story. "All you need to do is just
say no", says Dr.Cornell (Steve Buscemi) as if was the revelation of
the century. And that's how simple it is! In fact I would rather watch
'Lost in Space' once again, than return to '28 Days' .
As for acting, it's acceptable, but hardly anything else. For Sandra
Bullock it's an opportunity to demonstrate that she is capable of more
than 'Speed'. She handles her part with a surprising professionalism
and ease that certainly saves the film from being a complete
flop. Dominic West shines as the source of Gwenie's devilish
temptations, but Elizabeth Perkins' and Steve Buscemi's great talents
are wasted on unnoticeable and shallow characters. Although
intellectually 'Girl, Interrupted' was a greater achievement, '28
Days' is superior in its visual aspect. There are some nice flash back
sequences and occasionally impressive pacing, but the overall
technical aspect of this film is on the ground floor. The most
important thing is that we've seen it before and it was a lot
better. 'Clean and Sober', 'Only When I Laugh', 'When A Man Loves A
Woman' , 'Leaving Las Vegas' and many other stronger films were made
about the same issues. So what's the point? In other words '28 Days'
doesn't contribute to the moviemaking business on any level. If you're
caught in a snowstorm or bolts of lightning fall from the sky and
you're standing in front of the movie theatre, you might as well go in
and watch '28 Days' . Under all other circumstances stay away, because
this film equals $8 and 103 minutes lost.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
