28 Days (2000)

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 ruining her sister's wedding and crashing a stolen limousine.

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Car Accident | Drug Addiction | Intoxication | Alcoholic Mother

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: In the scene where they go into the drugstore and Eddie asks for the key to the men's room, his sleeves keeping changing from being up at his elbows, to down by his wrists.

Quotes:

Gwen Cummings: God, I love afternoons like this. You know what's missing in this afternoon? That I don't have a very dry vodka martini with two olives in a chilled glass. God, I miss that.
Eddie Boone: You know, lately I've been lying awake at night thinking of all the dumb-ass things I've done when i was messed up. One night last year, at dinner, I threw up all over my glazed ham. Then I was thinking, "Well, maybe nobody noticed."
Gwen Cummings: I don't think of it as a garnish.
Eddie Boone: Yeah, I'm a winner. Oh, God. You know what the worse one was? For me? My best friend in the whole world. Grew up playing ball, hunting and fishing. One Sunday morning, he walks in on me and his wife in bed. You never live that one down. Tell me one of yours.
Gwen Cummings: Excuse me?
Eddie Boone: What's the worse thing you ever did when you were messed up.
Gwen Cummings: Oh... Uh. I don't know
Eddie Boone: Oh, come on. Give me a couple, I'll pick one.
Gwen Cummings: I don't really remember any.
Eddie Boone: I just told you some stuff that's... you know.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Office: Initiation (#3.5)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Carolina In The Morning

Very solid movie; Bullock, Thomas deserve praise

There are a lot of good things about 28 Days, especially from Sandra Bullock and Betty Thomas (Director). Don't be fooled by the advertisers and trailers, this movie is a drama. There is a little comedy thrown in the mix to keep things light at times (after all, rehab is a depressing subject), but the balance is about 80/20% in favor of drama.

Sandra really shines. This movie is all hers and she proves that while bubbly and energetic may be her niche, she can also be gritty and subtle to great effect. She's always been a very solid and dependable actress, but she gets to dig deeper here. She could have played this role in so many ways that would have been easy and predictable, but luckily she gave just the right amount of weight to her character. It's certainly her best acting performance.

Betty Thomas also delivers another strong effort. The pacing and amount of scene time seem just right. There is very interesting camera work and flashback scenes that work very well. I guess the best thing to say is that she made a formula movie (girl bottoms out, girl resists rehab, girl comes to terms and embraces recovery) without boring us with the formula.

In short, the best thing about the movie is what it wasn't. It could have been so cliched (although there were a couple of unavoidable ones) and paint-by-numbers. Instead, it was more subtle rather than over the top.

There are good performances by all, especially Steven Buscemi who plays his small role straight and somber. This film has higher artistic/merit value than it does entertainment value (afterall, how entertaining can a movie about rehab be?). It's a solid 7.