28 Days (2000)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Betty Thomas

Writer (WGA):

Susannah Grant (written by)

Release Date:

14 April 2000 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

The Life of the Party... before she got a life.

Plot:

A big-city newspaper columnist is forced to enter a drug and alcohol rehab center after stealing a limousine and crashing it into a house.

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Car Accident | Drug Overdose | Life Crisis | Drug Rehabilitation

Cast

Sandra Bullock	...	Gwen Cummings
Viggo Mortensen	...	Eddie Boone
Dominic West	...	Jasper
Elizabeth Perkins	...	Lily Cummings
Azura Skye	...	Andrea
Steve Buscemi	...	Cornell Shaw
Alan Tudyk	...	Gerhardt
Mike O'Malley	...	Oliver (as Michael O'Malley)
Marianne Jean-Baptiste	...	Roshanda
Reni Santoni	...	Daniel
Diane Ladd	...	Bobbie Jean
Margo Martindale	...	Betty
Susan Krebs	...	Evelyn
Loudon Wainwright III	...	Guitar Guy
Katie Scharf	...	Young Gwen

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements involving substance abuse, language and some sensuality.

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Malaysia:U | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:12 | USA:PG-13 (Certificate #36735) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Iceland:L | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Philippines:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

A YMCA in North Carolina was used as the Serenity Glen rehab. The YMCA continued to operate during the shooting of the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Gwen and Eddie are sitting in front of the TV, the ginger snap box on her right flips over on its other side between shots.

Quotes:

Oliver: Well, it's not a very cool guy to bring you booze in rehab, huh?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "HBO First Look: 28 Days (#7.5)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Carolina In The Morning

tries to walk the line between comedy and drama...and trips on it

I suppose I'll lay out the positive aspects of the film first, for it does have a couple. First, and most surprising, is the fact that Sandra Bullock actually holds this film together. It is the first time she's produced a serious performance since, uh, ever. Even better is Steve Buscemi, who, unfortunately, doesn't have nearly big enough of a part. A final plus is the fact that the film's heart is in the right place, even if it is misguided.

Which leads me to the negative. 28 Days attempts to tackle an incredibly heavy topic, but only with limited success. Primarily, there is a single reason for this, and it is because the film tries to be both a comedy and a drama at once. Few films pull this feat off very well (and they are usually romantic comedies), and 28 Days isn't one of them.

For example, the film goes to great lengths to demonstrate just how bad off Bullock's character really is, but it doesn't stick with that direction. Within the first five minutes of the film, she's destroyed a house and ruined a wedding - and she doesn't seem to care. Unfortunately, this does little to foster audience sympathy for Bullock, but that's besides this particular point.

The way I see it, if the film really focused more on Bullock's dark side, it would be better. But, alas, the movie adds several one-sided stereotypes that apparently are supposed to bring comic relief; all of them are distracting and only serve to rob the film of any power it might conceivably have. There's the angry-screw-the-entire-world type, the soap-operas-are-the-key-to-happiness-teenage type, the celebrity-baseball-player-playboy type, and let's be sure not to forget the eccentric-foreign-accent-man type (I particularly hate him). In other words, I couldn't care less about any of them. In fact, the only character outside of Bullock's that is even remotely interesting is Steve Buscemi's counselor. However, Buscemi's character is introduced, given more background than any other character in the film including Bullock, then dropped by the wayside completely. In my opinion, 28 Days could have been much more interesting had it analyzed a relationship between Bullock and Buscemi, but, hey, what can you do?

A final complaint. Director Betty Thomas seems to have attended the Blair Witch Project school of directing because every time Bullock's character has a flashback (which is often - let me say that again - often), the camera shakes as if the cameraman were suddenly overtaken by some sort of seizure. This same technique occurs during the unreadable opening credits. I'm sure Thomas is trying to make some sort of statement on alcohol's effect on memory and motor function, but she's not telling me anything I don't know and IS making me noxious.

Still, overall, despite my numerous complaints, 28 Days is watchable, and this is, again, largely due to Bullock's performance. Nevertheless, though, you could walk out of this movie and decide you want a drink, and I don't think that's the effect the filmmakers were aiming for. 5/10