The alphabetical trawl through the movies on Sky lands me on "28 Days" a turn of the Millennium, Sandra Bullock starring drama about her experiences in a rehabilitation facility. I was aware of the film, but hadn't seen it until now. It was, in a word, underwhelming.
Having ruined her sister's wedding in what is the latest of a long line of drunken nights, Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) is forced into 28 days of mandated rehab after stealing and crashing a limousine. Initially resistant to the treatment, Gwen eventually bonds with her fellow patients including her roomate Andrea (Azura Skye) and Eddie (Viggo Mortensen). However, her good work is repeatedly undone by her boyfriend Jasper (Dominic West) who doesn't accept that Gwen has a problem.
So there are some positives. Bullock is, as always, a capable actress and the watchable movie star. All the performances, perhaps except for Alan Tudyk's oddly OTT, potentially offensive turn, are at the very least acceptable. Actually, that's maybe where the positives end.
Tonally the film is all over the place. The time in rehabilitation is a slapstick farce sometimes, something approaching a gritty drama at others, but at no point does it feel real. Maybe it's the sepia lens that the film is shot through, maybe it's that the group counselling sessions are nonsense, maybe it's that there appears to be no structure or discipline in the facility, a facility which, I might add, stops the bus at a gas station, that sells alcohol, on the way back from a company team building exercise that they did, for some reason. I don't feel like Gwen's breakthroughs really come from anywhere genuine either - she hurts her leg a bit, falling from a tree, which is her rock bottom - it's not up there with "Trainspottings" baby scene, it's not even the worst thing that happens to her in this movie. But from that one moment she immediately signs up, flies straight and never wavers again.
Not funny enough for a comedy and far too lightweight for a drama "28 Days" is a lifetime movie, with better actors.
Having ruined her sister's wedding in what is the latest of a long line of drunken nights, Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) is forced into 28 days of mandated rehab after stealing and crashing a limousine. Initially resistant to the treatment, Gwen eventually bonds with her fellow patients including her roomate Andrea (Azura Skye) and Eddie (Viggo Mortensen). However, her good work is repeatedly undone by her boyfriend Jasper (Dominic West) who doesn't accept that Gwen has a problem.
So there are some positives. Bullock is, as always, a capable actress and the watchable movie star. All the performances, perhaps except for Alan Tudyk's oddly OTT, potentially offensive turn, are at the very least acceptable. Actually, that's maybe where the positives end.
Tonally the film is all over the place. The time in rehabilitation is a slapstick farce sometimes, something approaching a gritty drama at others, but at no point does it feel real. Maybe it's the sepia lens that the film is shot through, maybe it's that the group counselling sessions are nonsense, maybe it's that there appears to be no structure or discipline in the facility, a facility which, I might add, stops the bus at a gas station, that sells alcohol, on the way back from a company team building exercise that they did, for some reason. I don't feel like Gwen's breakthroughs really come from anywhere genuine either - she hurts her leg a bit, falling from a tree, which is her rock bottom - it's not up there with "Trainspottings" baby scene, it's not even the worst thing that happens to her in this movie. But from that one moment she immediately signs up, flies straight and never wavers again.
Not funny enough for a comedy and far too lightweight for a drama "28 Days" is a lifetime movie, with better actors.