http://www.submitweb.info www.submitweb.info Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:29:43 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 http://www.submitweb.info/computer-consultant/28-days/ http://www.submitweb.info/computer-consultant/28-days/#comments Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:29:43 +0000 admin http://www.submitweb.info/?p=8 Cast:

Sandra Bullock…	…Gwen Cummings
Viggo Mortensen…	…Eddie Boone
Dominic West…	…Jasper
Azura Skye…	…Andrea
Michael O’Malley…	…Oliver
Steve Buscemi…	…Cornell
Elizabeth Perkins…	…Lily
Marianne Jean-Baptiste…	…Roshanda

• Directed by: Betty Thomas
  Written by: Susannah Grant
  Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving substance abuse, language, and some sensuality
  Running Time: 1 hour, 43 minutes
  
  

In Denial Of Its Own Authenticity “28 Days” is a movie that pokes fun at its subject matter while simultaneously taking the plight of its main character seriously. The result is a film with plenty of good moments, but one that strangely rests at an uneven keel.I guess it basically comes down to which film you’d rather see. Separating the two contrasting styles for a second, I must confess that they are both handled with a deft touch by director Betty Thomas (“The Brady Bunch Movie”,”Private Parts”.) The dramatic elements are delicately played out, while the comic elements are actually very effective in their own right. Personally, I would have rather seen the dramatic aspect of the movie played out more fully, mainly because of Sandra Bullock’s magnificent performance; it’s one of her very best. Yet just when I was becoming more involved in her situation, the movie would toss in a comic bit to lighten the load. While many of those moments are indeed funny, they would seem to be better served in a different film.Bullock stars as Gwen Cummings, a New York writer who basically lives her life in a kind of kinetic uproar; getting sloppy drunk virtually every night, engaging in all sorts of reckless behavior with her boyfriend, Jasper (Dominic West), stumbling through the next day’s assignments and tasks, then repeating the cycle at a feverish pace. One day she finally hits rock bottom. After showing up at her sister’s wedding late, she proceeds to dive head first into alcoholic bliss (still on the heels of the previous night’s hangover), knocks over the wedding cake, then stumbles into the limousine, takes off, and crashes into the front porch of a neighboring house. Ouch.Her sentence is a choice… either 28 days of rehab or jail time. Upon arrival at Serenity Glen (whose motto is “Mind, Body, Spirit”), Gwen immediately knows this isn’t the place for her. She carries a condescending demeanor around like a security blanket, unwilling to discuss her problem seriously, all the while writing to Jasper, asking him to bring her chemical substances in an effort to take her mind away from what she’s been sentenced to endure. It is when her counselor (Steve Buscemi) threatens to have her removed from the center, thereby shipping her off the jail, does Gwen realize the limited bearing of her current situation. Thus begins the painful but necessary process of rehabilitation.At the center of the story lies the wonderful performance by Bullock. She successfully captures all the over-the-top behavior associated with being an addict without ever losing an ounce of credibility. The early scenes are the ones that caught my attention and drew me closer to her plight. We are appalled by her behavior, yet we never lose sight of the fact that Gwen is not a bad person, just one careening off the road, needing a healthy dose of self-respect to get back on track. Meg Ryan successfully captured those same traits in “When a Man Loves a Woman,” and Bullock accomplishes the same task here.The only thing that keeps me from giving the movie a solid recommendation is its unusual alteration of tone; injecting small doses of humor to (I guess) keep the story from being too dark. Some of those bits of humor are quite funny, including a hilarious soap opera parody called “Santa Cruz”, but seem a little misplaced here. Some of the material would feel right at home in a sitcom. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with combining dramatic and comedic elements. It just feels like they’re battling each other here; jockeying for position to see which will come out ahead in the end.Usually, I expect to leave a theatre having my feelings overcome by what I had just witnessed. From this perspective, I had a somewhat schizophrenic reaction to “28 Days.” Yes, the humorous side of me appreciated the comic bits, but my appreciation of good drama simply wished those comedic elements were in a different movie. ]]> http://www.submitweb.info/computer-consultant/28-days/feed/ 0