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The tagline says everything you need to know about 28 Days:
"The Life of the Party... before she got a life."
Unfortunately, Columbia TriStar has instead pushed this film
as a lighthearted comedy in the vein of While You Were Sleeping,
which doesn't really properly represent what the film is about.
There is nothing funny or lighthearted about the subject matter
of 28 Days, and if you have ever suffered through the heartbreak
of seeing a friend or relative kill themselves with alcohol
or substance abuse, you know the story and it's not a happy
one. Because the subject matter s is considered by the big
studio heads to be a hard sell, they have tried to shroud
the movie in a cloud of fun dust. If you happen to be seeing
this film for a hardy laugh and a refreshing dose of meaningless
entertainment, you have picked the wrong film.
Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) is a mess in the most literal
sense. She believes that she is a lot of fun to be around
and that life is a big party. She has no idea that she is
an alcoholic of the worst kind, one that is not even aware
that they are addicted. But then the day finally comes for
her to face the hard reality that she has lived for so long,
a fate that eventually befalls all addicts (well, the lucky
ones.) Gwen and her addict boyfriend Jasper (Dominic West)
attend her sister's (Elizabeth Perkins) wedding, and Gwen,
of course, ruins everything. Giving a ridiculously vile toast,
she smashes the wedding cake and steals a limo in an attempt
to buy another cake, only to crash into someone's house on
the way.
Soon, Gwen is sentenced to "28 days" in a rehab
facility known as Sobriety Glen. After much resistance, she
finally comes around and begins to relate to the eccentric
personalities of the other addicts around her (Azura Skye,
Alan Tudyk, Viggo Mortensen). As things begin to turn around
for her, Gwen realizes what a pathetic state her life is in,
and the value of the severed relationships her reckless lifestyle
has caused.
Fresh off of the Eddie Murphy comedy Doctor Dolittle, Betty
Thomas attempts to invoke the girl power of Sandra Bullock
to turn 28 Days into a commercially successful film. Using
Bullock's charm and her own accessible directing style, Thomas
tries to connect the easily-depressing subject of 28 Days
to a mass audience. Unfortunately, because the script has
been peppered with comedy, this is an extremely hard feat
for Thomas to accomplish. The film feels unsettling for the
first and last half-hours. This is partially due to the subject
matter itself, but also because ridiculous lines are uttered
at some very serious moments in the film. Susannah Grant,
who recently wrote the phenomenal Erin Brockovich, also wrote
the screenplay for 28 Days. I find it difficult to believe
that she put all of the comic moments into the screenplay
by free will.
Grant is one of the most enthralling screenwriters on the
market today and she can bring a central female character
to life with much realism and complexity. She has now written
two exceptional female lead roles in two vastly different
films. If she had been able to keep the script for 28 Days
sans comedy, it would have been a far more effective piece.
Sandra Bullock shines through with an incredibly jarring performance
as a woman who has lost control of her own life. Bullock is
the dramatic center that keep this film in tact. 28 Days is
not an entirely bad film by any means. It could have been
better, but it does serve its purpose, to teach the lesson
that addiction is bad not only for those that participate
in it, but also those who can't help but love the addict.
class="purple">Video: How Does The Disc Look?
This anamorphic widescreen transfer is superb in just about
every way. I was extremely impressed with the crispness of
the picture and the near perfect color saturation. The majority
of the film took place out in the country with many greens
and yellows and they are displayed to perfection. With all
of the shrubbery in the film, I expected to see some edge
enhancement, but to my surprise, there was none to be found!
The black levels in the film are solid throughout and the
contrast is dead on. No compression artifacting or pixel breakup
is evident.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track is a fine one. The surround
activity is quite extensive and the use of the rear speakers
is phenomenal. There were several scenes in the film that
kicked on the .1 LFE, especially during the pounding club
scenes in the film. The dialog is anchored nicely in the center
channel and is never marred by the score. Many directional
effects are employed and they all sound magnificent, especially
those that take place in the rear channels.
An English Dolby Digital 2.0 track is included in addition
to a rich sounding Isolated Music Score. English captions
have been added for the hearing impaired.
class="purple">Supplements: What Goodies Are There?
This disc was not given short thrift in regards to extra
features, either. Columbia has done their best to include
a lot of inside details and behind-the-scenes information
about the film in these features. To start things off, there
is a 15 minute HBO making of featurette that focuses
on actor interviews about how they enjoyed working on the
film, and especially with director Betty Thomas. Included
are several behind the scenes bits as well, for a pretty standard
piece of promotional fluff.
More fun is a 30-minute full episode of 'Santa Cruz'
that is so hysterical; I think it could be made into an actual
sitcom spin-off of its own! During the course of 28 Days,
we see the characters intensely watching a soap opera titled
'Santa Cruz' and this feature is basically everything that
was shot for that show within the movie. There are five deleted
scenes that are on the disc, but are not actually included
under a section called "deleted scenes." Three of
them can be found in the "Character Testimonials"
section and feature three of the rehab characters telling
the stories of how they ended up in the program. The other
two scenes are in the "Guitar Guy's Lost Songs"
section, and were cut for pacing reasons, but feature two
funny rehab songs by "the guitar guy." Very entertaining.
A text-based tutorial is provided for anyone who must know
How To Make A Gum Wrapper chain that Bullock's character
is seen constructing in the film. I don't know about all of
you viewers out there, but I was one that could not wait to
know how to do this! Two theatrical trailers are available
in full screen with 5.1 tracks. The first is for 28 Days and
the second for Columbia's Big Daddy also featuring Steve Buscemi.
The standard talent files and scene selections are also provided.
Last, but certainly not least, is the screen specific
audio commentary featuring Betty Thomas, who introduces
herself as Martin Scorcese (!), and her producer Celia D.
Costas, composer Richard Gibbs and editor Peter Teschner.
I found this track very refreshing as the four members talk
about A LOT of the inside information that went into the film
while remaining humorous and fun throughout the whole track.
Thomas points out a lot of scenes and lines of dialogue that
would have to be cut for the eventual television broadcast
version. I was surprised at a lot of these cuts, as the majority
of them seemed so insignificant that I had to wonder what
the motive was to chop them. This is very interesting stuff,
and it makes me wonder just how much is butchered from other
films in preparation for TV broadcasting...
Parting Thoughts
Both the film and the DVD presentation are extremely interesting.
Many folks out there may be offended at some of the ideas
in this film, so I encourage you to rent this film before
you buy. But if you enjoyed the movie, then there is no doubt
that you would be a happy owner of this DVD.
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