My mom purchased "28 Days" because she works at a place that fosters people with alcohol/drug addiction, and she was told this movie had a positive message for people trying to recover. After watching this movie, I agree "28 Days" does seem to show a realistic and positive look at recovery (but I don't work in that field, so how can I be totally sure!?)
We're first introduced to Gwen, played by Sandra Bullock, who is an alcoholic party-girl that wrecks her sister's wedding, crashes into a house while driving drunk, and then sent to rehab. Immediately, I dislike this character, especially when she was so disagreeable and in denial at rehab. However, I guess this is probably an accurate portrayal of a character going through something like this.
Nevertheless, the movie progresses, and you start caring for the characters and rooting for them to succeed. Aside from Gwen, other interesting characters include Andrea (a young teen who is addicted to heroin and to a soap opera called "Santa Cruz"), Eddie (a retired baseball player played by pre-"Lord of the Rings" star Viggo Mortensen), and Cornell (a former drug addict and current counselor played by the great Steve Buscemi. This movie is a welcome change for Buscemi, as he is playing a character that isn't psychotic in any way.)
There were some characters I didn't care for though, like Oliver as played by Mike O'Malley. Mr. O'Malley is a fairly funny guy, but I don't think he has the comedic chops to carry the humor of a feature film. I also found the character, Gerhardt, to be more annoying than funny. Most of the time, I couldn't even understand him!
Overall, "28 Days" falls short on a few big aspects. It's supposed to be a "drama-comedy," but there aren't many laughs, and when there were dramatic/traumatic moments, I found that I didn't really care. However, I will give "28 Days" much credit for an accurate depiction of rehab and the type of characters that go through such a trying moment.
My IMDb Rating: 8/10. My Yahoo! Grade: B+ (Memorable)
We're first introduced to Gwen, played by Sandra Bullock, who is an alcoholic party-girl that wrecks her sister's wedding, crashes into a house while driving drunk, and then sent to rehab. Immediately, I dislike this character, especially when she was so disagreeable and in denial at rehab. However, I guess this is probably an accurate portrayal of a character going through something like this.
Nevertheless, the movie progresses, and you start caring for the characters and rooting for them to succeed. Aside from Gwen, other interesting characters include Andrea (a young teen who is addicted to heroin and to a soap opera called "Santa Cruz"), Eddie (a retired baseball player played by pre-"Lord of the Rings" star Viggo Mortensen), and Cornell (a former drug addict and current counselor played by the great Steve Buscemi. This movie is a welcome change for Buscemi, as he is playing a character that isn't psychotic in any way.)
There were some characters I didn't care for though, like Oliver as played by Mike O'Malley. Mr. O'Malley is a fairly funny guy, but I don't think he has the comedic chops to carry the humor of a feature film. I also found the character, Gerhardt, to be more annoying than funny. Most of the time, I couldn't even understand him!
Overall, "28 Days" falls short on a few big aspects. It's supposed to be a "drama-comedy," but there aren't many laughs, and when there were dramatic/traumatic moments, I found that I didn't really care. However, I will give "28 Days" much credit for an accurate depiction of rehab and the type of characters that go through such a trying moment.
My IMDb Rating: 8/10. My Yahoo! Grade: B+ (Memorable)