Sexual Dependency

Average customer rating:

Good movie!
This Movie Is Everything You Expect, Presented in ways you do not always expect!
True movie
Pure garbage
Gwennie

28 Days (Special Edition)
Starring: Sandra Bullock , Viggo Mortensen , Dominic West , Elizabeth Perkins , and Azura Skye
Director: Betty Thomas
Manufacturer: Sony Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00004UEDQ
Release Date: 2000-09-19

Amazon.com

To appreciate 28 Days, it's best to be thankful that director Betty Thomas hasn't forced Sandra Bullock into a remake of Clean and Sober. Instead Thomas has balanced her comedic sensibility (evident in Dr. Dolittle and Private Parts) with the seriousness of alcoholism and substance abuse, and she succeeds without compromising the gravity of the subject matter. Some critics have scoffed at the movie's breezy, formulaic portrait of 27-year-old boozer and pill-popper Gwen Cummings (Bullock), but this smooth-running star vehicle does for Bullock what Erin Brockovich did for Julia Roberts, focusing her appeal in a substantial role without taxing the limits of her talent. It's no wonder that Susannah Grant (who wrote both films) was one of the hottest new screenwriters of 1999. She writes "Hollywood Lite" without insulting anyone's intelligence.

As played by Bullock, Gwen is an alcoholic in denial whose latest bender with boozer boyfriend Jasper (Dominic West) ruins the wedding of her sister (Elizabeth Perkins) and lands her in a month-long rehab program with the requisite gang of struggling drunks and junkies. Newcomer Alan Tudyk steals his scenes as a gay German rehabber who might've dropped in from a Berlin performance-art exhibit, and Steve Buscemi aptly conveys the weary commitment of a counselor who's seen it all. Thomas has surrounded Bullock with a sharp ensemble, and the addition of singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III (as a kind of Greek chorus crooner) is sublimely inspired. Certainly no surprises here--the warring sisters will reconcile, and at least one rehabber will fail to recover--but there's ample pleasure to be found in Bullock's finely tuned performance, and in Thomas's inclusion of flashbacks and tangents that add depth and laughter in just the right dosage. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

Good movie!.......2007-05-21

Although not an accurate portrayal of treatment centers, they do an excellent job of describing addiction. Combination of reality and humor.

This Movie Is Everything You Expect, Presented in ways you do not always expect!.......2007-03-19

This movie is another in a pretty formulaic cadre of from committed boozer and dope addict to drug free recovery stories. This movie does have the virtue of being genuinely funny in some places. Best of all this movie does not take itself so seriously that the anti-drug message dominates the movie. The Movie has a strong anti-drug message make no mistake about that but it is not preachy, high toned, condescending or overly moralistic.

I do not agree that this movie protrays all teenaged ladies as vapid, self absorbed, trite peices of fluff unable to avoid the snare of drug abuse or addiction. However if you go to a football stadium during a football game most of the people you will see there are football fans. Likewise if you have a movie set in the teen ladies unit of a drug treatment center you will see mostly teenaged ladies who for whatever reason were unable to beat the lure of low life dope dealers. The fact that a small faction of teen aged young ladies end up on the crazy road to drug drained boozed up palookaville does not in any way take from the fact that most teen aged young ladies become awesome contributing members of society. 28 Days wants to be a movie that zooms in on life for a small fraction of teen aged ladies who have surcumb to the evils of dope and booze and are on the road to productive recovery.

Despite the serious subject matter what makes this movie fun, is the cast of odd ball characters on the druggie unit with the main character. You just know by looking at this druggie program that it is populated with the posh more well to do upper crust crowd and their is nothing wrong with that. Everyone is just slightly off kilter just enough to be interesting yet still beleivable. I have found most dope addicts and boozers have their weird quirks. It is said that what most in society consider an eccess of weirdness is the price paid by those whose level of inspired creativity allows them to think outside the box in chosen life pursuits.

In the case of the main character as with so many creative types, she aches to be accepted by mainstream society. Her pleas to be loved by polite society go unrequited as thinking outside the box creatively has become a pain for which drugs and or booze become her crutch. One of the funniest parts of the movie has to be when her enabler boyfriend brings booze, a cheap diamond and his stupid boozed up - pro-druggie ideals to her on a boatride while she is in the treatment center. This guy was such a TOTAL UTTER LOSER, while he sounded sincere in his every word he was also a sad black comedy because, there are really people out there who think exactly like him.

28 Days (Special Edition) is a good DVD because despite its heavy subject matter it is still a "very entertaining movie". Good fun solid Entertainment is something most druggie \ boozer finds redemption flicks usually do not do very well. 28 days is funny, entertaining while still holding on to its strong anti-drug message. Sandra Bullock is not bad to look at in this DVD, she does some good solid acting here and if Sandra is your cup of tea she shines like a diamond ever so nicely in for these 28 Days! If you buy 28 Days you will see for yourself!

True movie.......2007-03-05

This movie is very very true movie!!! This movie could help you realize if you are like Sandra Bullock maybe you will realize what really going to happen to you. I am not a drug or drinker but it's something for all of us to learn many things through life what would happen to all of us in the future. This movie has taught people who has drinking and drugs problems!!

Pure garbage.......2007-01-14

I hate this movie! Because it protrays 17-year-old girls in such a negative light. I'm almost 17 years old and I felt disgusted that adults think that all teenagers do is smoke and do drugs and drink when they really don't.In real life, teenage girls don't do that kind of stuff. I think Hollywood producers should make movies about girls following their dreams and finding themselves rather than they do drugs and overdose and die. It's so disgusting that the media presents teenagers like this to the public and then adults think that's what young girls are like. I don't think I have ever seen a movie about a seventeen-year-old girl like this ever. It's the worst movie I've ever seen in my whole entire life and I shouldn't have seen it to begin with. I'm sorry I wasted my time watching this piece of crap. I love Sandra Bullock, I think she's a cool woman and an great actress, but this piece of trash is too horrible for words. It's sick! Don't watch this at all!!!!!!!!

Gwennie.......2006-11-21

Another very funny movie with Sandra Bullock! In rehab, Gwennie finds friends, and oddball romance. Favorite part when she gets a diamond.

Average customer rating:

What Requiem for a Dream was for drugs, this is for depression
PROZAC NATION!!
Vincent Gallo as a chick.
A sensitive look at the world of mental illness
Lost Time

Prozac Nation
Starring: Christina Ricci , Jason Biggs , Anne Heche , Michelle Williams , and Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg
Manufacturer: Miramax Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00094ASC2
Release Date: 2005-07-05

Amazon.com

Fans of Christina Ricci will note that the saucer-eyed actress takes a big leap from deadpan-child and grumpy-ingenue roles with Prozac Nation, an adaptation of Elizabeth Wurtzel's bestselling book. Ricci puts her all into playing Lizzie, a self-absorbed Ivy League writer wannabe who alienates friends and family with her out-of-control mood swings and other chemical imbalances. Ricci is committed and convincing, but nothing she does ameliorates Lizzie's exasperating personality; spending 90 minutes around this person is an eternity of tantrums. Around to provide audience stand-ins are Jason Biggs, Michelle Williams, and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, all of whom disapprove of Lizzie's self-destructive behavior. Jessica Lange, professional as always, is Lizzie's brittle mother. If the movie really did capture the sense of the zeitgeist suggested by its grandiose title, or if it carried some intriguing stylistic urgency that carried us into its depressive labyrinth, perhaps Lizzie's journey would be palatable. But the long delay between Prozac Nation's shooting (in 2001) and its emergence on cable-TV and DVD is all too easy to understand. --Robert Horton

Description

Award winners Christina Ricci (CURSED, MONSTER) and Jessica Lange (BIG FISH, ROB ROY) star in this emotionally charged true story about a journey into excess! When talented young writer Elizabeth Wurtzel (Ricci) earns a scholarship to Harvard, she sees it as her chance to escape the pressures of her working-class background and concentrate on her true talent. But what starts out so promising leads to self-destructive behavior and paralyzing depression that reflects an entire generation's struggle to navigate the effects of divorce, drugs, sex, and high expectations. Based on the best-selling autobiographical novel, PROZAC NATION also stars Michelle Williams (THE STATION AGENT), Anne Heche (JOHN Q), Jason Biggs (JERSEY GIRL), and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM).

Customer Reviews:

What Requiem for a Dream was for drugs, this is for depression.......2007-04-14

Like most movies with actual content, this move is underrated at 3/5 stars.

Great acting. Not a movie which appeals to everyone. But in my opinion, if it got across what it was trying to get across, then it is a quality movie. That's not to say everyone need like it. This is somewhat akin to someone who doesn't like spicy foods walking into a Thai restaurant and saying the food sucks.

Where Requiem for a Dream was designed to make you feel the highs and lows of drug abuse, this was meant for depression. I really thought it did a good job, just as Requiem did.

I have to say, my gut wrenched when she would go off on a rant when I knew she didn't mean to, I turned the sound down for a moment! She played the role well...perhaps too well? :)

We all have our problems, it's a shame if you take this movie at face value and think that: well she must have problems because her dad left. If you write it off like that, you miss the point. People are much worse off than her. Pain is not an absolute scale, its utterly relative to your life. Your parents don't need to be divorced to be depressed. This affects a lot of people and even more people are very ignorant about it.

PROZAC NATION!!.......2007-04-06

ALTHOUGH I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE BOOK THAT THIS FILM WAS BASED UPON, THE MOVIE WAS ACTUALLY QUITE GOOD!
MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE FILM SHOULD BE VIEWED AS AN ACTING SHOWCASE FOR CHRISTINA RICCI!
HER PERFORMANCE WAS SPECTACULAR!
PROZAC NATION MIGHT JUST BE TELLING US ABOUT THE TYPE OF WORLD THAT WE LIVE IN TODAY AND HOW DEALING WITH OUR DAY-TO-DAY LIVES CAN BE RATHER DIFFICULT!
RICCI FANS SHOULD DEFINETELY SEE IT!!

Vincent Gallo as a chick........2007-03-05

Decent acting, but this forgettable memoir has all the gravitas of a Darlene-heavy episode of TV's Roseanne. The narcissism of this story is so advanced it appears oblivious to what a pedestrian diary of teenage angst it's reading from. Liz does something bad and gets yelled at. She yells back, then feels bad and cries. This describes nearly every scene. Mental illness has been done, and done better, on film. This ain't all that deep. Go watch "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" if you need to push this junk out of your brain.

A sensitive look at the world of mental illness.......2007-02-19

The beautiful Christina Ricci stars as Elizabeth Wurtzel, a young girl with a talent for writing, battling with severe mental illness and the background of a broken family.
She has to deal with an overbearing mother (Jessica Lange) and it seems going to Harvard will be a bright new chapter in her life.

However the life of drugs and sex at university is not always the best enviroment for someone as fragile as Elizabeth, and she begins to fall about, as she is abandoned by her friends and boyfriend.
Undoubtedly Christina Ricci's talent is what makes this a five star production.
A sensitive and hopefully revealing look at the world of depression and mental illnes , adapted from the book by Elizabeth Wurtzel. One has to understand the phenomenon to really sympathize with what Christina's character is going through, which her university friends clearly dont.
Two interesting things about the movie, regarding Christina Ricci's career.
This was Christina's first nude scene in a movie, and the second time , a Christina, a Christian has played the role of a Jewish character, the first time being the magnifficent The Man Who Cried.

Lost Time.......2006-12-12

Granted, I've not read the book. It seemed that the film left out vital parts of the story, or it was poorly edited/directed. It just seemed really choppy and inconsistent. The value of the plot is immense, I just didn't think that as a package the film delivered it well. The acting was great, though I constantly found myself thinking that Michelle Williams looked so much older than the rest of her peers that the illusion of college was broken for me. I wanted the film to be this deep commentary on our sanctioned drug culture via the mental health audience and I never felt that it got there. It was more a noncommital nontreatment of mental conditions.

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