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28 DAYS Send This Review to a Friend
Alcoholism becomes a laughing matter in this excessively cute treatment of a drinker and pill-popper who wrecks her sister's wedding, drives off in the bridal limo and crashes it. The court sends her to a rehab center, which she fights, until she turns the corner and comes to understand her problem and be motivated to do something about her life. Sandra Bullock acts well enough to be taken seriously as the problem woman in "28 Days," but the screenplay by Susannah Grant and the direction by Betty Thomas are hell-bent on getting what laughs can be gleaned from the group therapy sessions and the antics of various patients, as well as from situations more geared to comedy than understanding.
The stress on laughs would be fine if the film were just a gallows humor comedy but didn't also ask to be taken as recovery drama. The result is a flawed mix, like a cocktail with clashing ingredients. Viggo Mortensen has appeal as Eddie, one of the patients, who helps give Gwen (Bullock) a steadying outlook. Steve Buscemi is effective, as usual, this time as Gwen's no-nonsense counselor. Dominic West overacts embarrassingly as Jasper, the good-time boyfriend of Gwen who is unbelievably lacking in an ounce of sensitivity toward her plight. He has to be a thorough dunce to behave as he does. Elizabeth Perkins fares better as Gwen's sister, whose experiences makes it tough to become more compassionate.
If anything positive comes through in the film it is the emergence of Bullock as more of an actress than her other roles have shown her to be. But she needs a script that doesn't try so hard to be a common denominator crowd-pleaser at the expense of the subject matter. A Columbia Pictures release.
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