Rating of
3/4
...I NEED ANOTHER ONE, NAT!
Gabe - wrote on 07/21/14
This film really portrayed what the life of an alcoholic is really like. As someone who has first-hand knowledge of this problem (not me, but someone in my family, and I also refuse to use the word disease to describe it), your whole life is consumed by drinking. A lot of television and film shows how great and wonderful alcohol is, but the truth is (and I'm no teetotaler, I like to imbibe, myself) this is what happens when you let your drinking get out of control.
The acting was brilliant, Ray Milland, deservedly won the Academy Award for this film. Yes, I thought the "DTs" scene was a little over-the-top, but it worked. Honestly, though, I wasn't a fan of the ending. I didn't like the suicide sub-plot. I also wasn't convinced that he could be saved. I just assumed that he would continue to drink, and then end up dead or in jail...alone.
One last not, did anyone else think that the nurse "Bim" Nolan was played by Gene Wilder? I knew it wasn't him, but Frank Faylen, the man who did play that part reminded me of Gene Wilder, not only in look, but also in the way he spoke, specifically Willy Wonka-era Gene Wilder.
