28 Days (Special Edition)
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.88 You Save: $6.11 (61%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.59 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of 28 Days (Special Edition)
Movie Review: you make it impossible to love you
Summary: 4 Stars
Before The Blind Side hit it big, Sandra Bullock was an undervalued asset. She made a lot of films, some good, some awful, but she got blamed for the failures, and never got credit for her good performances. Since winning the Oscar and then being cheated on by Jesse James, the public's sympathy has shifted 180 degrees. For a while there it was 24/7 Bullock, Bullock, Bullock on the airwaves, all day/every day. Critics like me are digging up films from the archive and going back to uncover any forgotten gems we may have missed. 28 Days is not the mother lode, it is just a load of Bullock.
Gwen Cummings: Is that available stitched on a pillow somewhere?
During filming in New York Sandra Bullock stayed in the recently departed Dennis Hopper's apartment and that alone should have inspired the young thespian. Her method of acting involved downing a triple espresso before any scene that required her character to have uncontrollable shakes. Is that how Hopper did it in Blue Velvet? Bullock is allergic to horses, but one scene of equine therapy required her to gain a horse's trust so it would allow her to bend the horse's leg. In spite of her allergies, she bent it. What a trouper.
Betty: Tonight's lecture: Are you a blackout drunk, or don't you remember?
Betty Thomas, who was an officer on Hill Street Blues, and also acted in such films as Troop Beverly Hills, has stepped behind the camera where she has directed The Brady Bunch Movie and others of that caliber. She also directed Private Parts, the bio pic about shock jock Howard Stern. She is no Orson Welles, but knows how to serve up some light hearted fare such as 28 Days.
OK, it is not so bad in a kind of made-for-TV movie, after school special, sit com level acting kind of way. A light hearted romp through rehab. It's no Leaving Las Vegas, Days of Wine and Roses, Rachael Getting Married, or When a Man Loves a Woman. Sandra Bullock has a certain ineffable charm, and the cast of characters are all kind of cute in their own peculiar ways. Alan Tudyk plays Gerhardt, an extremely odd character who improvises a strange monologue about forks in the road. He is perhaps the wackiest neighbor, the Cosmo Kramer, if you will, of 28 Days; but the ever so slightly less odd characters anchor the story.
Dominic West plays Jasper, her boyfriend, her enabler, her co dependent. The audience, and eventually Gwen Cummings can see that he is not very helpful to Gwen in her quest for sobriety. Viggo Mortensen plays Eddie Boone, a baseball player with substance abuse issues. He is your average jock, except that he is a secret soap opera fan, showing his softer side. They created a soap opera within the movie, and it was called Santa Cruz. Also a big fan of Santa Cruz was Gwen's roommate Andrea (Azura Skye). Mike O'Malley plays one of the other rehabbers, and he can currently be seen as Kurt's dad on Glee.
Steve Buscemi is in this playing a counselor called Cornell. He does an adequate job, but it is not up to the level of his Theodore Donald 'Donny' in 1998's The Big Lebowski. But bottom line, what is?
Cornell: This isn't a way to live. This is a way to die.
What We Do Is Secret (2007) Azura Skye was Casey Cola
Dodgeball - A True Underdog Story (Unrated Edition) (2004) Alan Tudyk was Steve the Pirate
Mona Lisa Smile (2003) Dominic West was Bill Dunbar
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Widescreen Edition) (2001) Viggo Mortensen was Aragorn
Pushing Tin (1999) Mike O'Malley was Pete
The Big Lebowski (1998) Steve Buscemi was Theodore Donald 'Donny'
Private Parts (1997) Directed by Betty Thomas
The Flintstones (Collector's Edition) (1994) Elizabeth Perkins was Wilma Flintstone
The Thing Called Love (Director's Cut) (1993) Sandra Bullock was Linda Lue Linden
Wild at Heart (1990) Diane Ladd was Marietta Fortune
Lily: Gwen, you make it impossible to love you.
========
Movie Review: Sandra shows some serious range here!
Summary: 4 Stars
I've seen this film a few times (I even saw it twice in the theater) and walking away from it I feel the same way every time. This is a good film that just lands on the wrong side of great thanks to a few pacing issues. You know, I really enjoy this film and find all the performances, especially Bullock's, to be strong and focused and intriguing; but the film has a few spots that just seem to lag along forever. If the film had been tightened just a little (and maybe a few of the clichés flipped on their heads) then this film could have been one of the best of the year.
That said, Bullock would easily make my top ten Lead Actress ballot for 2000.
The film revolves around Gwen, a grown woman who acts very much like a child thanks to her addictions to pills and booze, not to mention the strong influence from her equally immature (and self centered) boyfriend Jasper. When she unintentionally (yet most likely not really regretfully) ruins her sisters wedding thanks to her `issues', she finds herself spending a month in rehab where she starts to find herself by witnessing the effect her life has on others as well as getting to see herself through others eyes. The film may go in a very predictable direction (the character arcs for Jasper, Gwen and one unlucky patient are very `by the book') but it feels very authentic and relatable from start to finish.
Well, except for the weird love angle involving Eddie, the baseball player.
In the end though, it is not the script itself that gets the negative point, or maybe it is, but not the plot aspect of the script. There are just a few scenes that needed to be cut in order to keep the film from lulling and leaving holes of disinterest. It's sad when a film can grab you and then kind of push you away almost simultaneously.
It's a balanceing act that this film didn't quite master.
Still, the acting is rather remarkable, especially when you consider the type of film this COULD have become. When you think of Sandra Bullock you don't really think of dramatic actress. You think of bubbly and cute romantic comedies. Well, now you think of Oscar Winning actress (congrats Sandra, even if NO ONE should have beaten Mulligan this year!), but at the time this was released Sandra was not really known for her skills in the dramatic department. She SOARS here. She really understands how to use her knack for endearing the audience as well as this rich element of surprise into creating a beautifully sincere character. The ensemble is actually very well used, from the selfish sensuality that envelopes Dominic West to the awkward heartbreak that swallows Azura Skye; all the way to Steve Buscemi and the ridiculously underused Mike O'Malley.
Of course, there is always one who just steals every scene, and here that is Alan Tudyk.
I totally recommend this film. I wish that I could say it was perfect and give it an A, but a B+ is pretty good and this film more than deserves that grade. Sandra is a star (we all know that) and this may be her finest performance (although I am still VERY partial to her work in `While You Were Sleeping') so see it for her performance if nothing else. Thankfully this film is far more than just a performance vehicle.
Movie Review: This Movie Is Everything You Expect, Presented in ways you do not always expect!
Summary: 4 Stars
This movie is another in a pretty formulaic cadre of from committed boozer and dope addict to drug free recovery stories. This movie does have the virtue of being genuinely funny in some places. Best of all this movie does not take itself so seriously that the anti-drug message dominates the movie. The Movie has a strong anti-drug message make no mistake about that but it is not preachy, high toned, condescending or overly moralistic.
I do not agree that this movie protrays all teenaged ladies as vapid, self absorbed, trite peices of fluff unable to avoid the snare of drug abuse or addiction. However if you go to a football stadium during a football game most of the people you will see there are football fans. Likewise if you have a movie set in the teen ladies unit of a drug treatment center you will see mostly teenaged ladies who for whatever reason were unable to beat the lure of low life dope dealers. The fact that a small faction of teen aged young ladies end up on the crazy road to drug drained boozed up palookaville does not in any way take from the fact that most teen aged young ladies become awesome contributing members of society. 28 Days wants to be a movie that zooms in on life for a small fraction of teen aged ladies who have surcumb to the evils of dope and booze and are on the road to productive recovery.
Despite the serious subject matter what makes this movie fun, is the cast of odd ball characters on the druggie unit with the main character. You just know by looking at this druggie program that it is populated with the posh more well to do upper crust crowd and their is nothing wrong with that. Everyone is just slightly off kilter just enough to be interesting yet still beleivable. I have found most dope addicts and boozers have their weird quirks. It is said that what most in society consider an eccess of weirdness is the price paid by those whose level of inspired creativity allows them to think outside the box in chosen life pursuits.
In the case of the main character as with so many creative types, she aches to be accepted by mainstream society. Her pleas to be loved by polite society go unrequited as thinking outside the box creatively has become a pain for which drugs and or booze become her crutch. One of the funniest parts of the movie has to be when her enabler boyfriend brings booze, a cheap diamond and his stupid boozed up - pro-druggie ideals to her on a boatride while she is in the treatment center. This guy was such a TOTAL UTTER LOSER, while he sounded sincere in his every word he was also a sad black comedy because, there are really people out there who think exactly like him.
28 Days (Special Edition) is a good DVD because despite its heavy subject matter it is still a "very entertaining movie". Good fun solid Entertainment is something most druggie \ boozer finds redemption flicks usually do not do very well. 28 days is funny, entertaining while still holding on to its strong anti-drug message. Sandra Bullock is not bad to look at in this DVD, she does some good solid acting here and if Sandra is your cup of tea she shines like a diamond ever so nicely in for these 28 Days! If you buy 28 Days you will see for yourself!
Movie Review: A little light but still meaningful
Summary: 4 Stars
Some movies are just fluff, while some can change lives. 28 Days falls solidly into the second category, although it is by no means it is a documentary. It is a light Hollywood treatment of a serious topic. You can take the point of view that at least maybe people who ARE addicted will see it without realizing the full import up front, and realize they need help.
We begin with Sandra Bullock's character, who is a New York lady living the high life with her boyfriend. After a night of heavy drinking, she wakes up late for her older sister's wedding. She completely destroys the wedding, crashes the wedding limo and ends up in rehab.
You get the typical transition from surly, angry newcomer to understanding, coping recovery person - learning more about her past and the characters around her along the way. Situations are extremely two dimensional and oversimplified, but to be fair, the movie only has so many minutes in which to tell the story. There are the traditional set-backs and problems, and small victories.
So where is Viggo, the 2nd billing, in all of this? If you're a Viggo fan, you spend about half the movie waiting for him. He eventually shows up as a baseball pitcher tossed into rehab to fix his drugs-and-girls habit. He's got southern charm and a laid back personality, as always. And yes, there are horses. It seems Viggo likes to be in horse-movies. In this case, the horse is one of the key "characters" - it symbolizes Sandra's ability to finally let things go and trust in life.
It's actually suprising that Viggo got second billing here. He doesn't have many lines, and he isn't even a 'romantic partner' for Sandra. In fact he is quite innocent when Sandra's boyfriend accuses Viggo of stepping into the situation. Viggo does deliver the final message to her as she leaves rehab, though - to learn how to forgive, and to cut her boyfriend loose in order to face a new world alcohol-free. Sure enough, it turns out her boyfriend is trying to drag her right into the same world, and she does better to go it alone.
The scenes with Viggo were a little contrived, but they had their own charm. Viggo had his low key country charm, but punched Sandra's boyfriend pretty quickly when things got rough. He showed Sandra how to pitch, and had her throw the ball with her eyes closed, to teach her trust. On the other hand, he was literally caught with his pants down, showing that he hadn't quite given up the sleeping around yet.
The only thing missing here in the "Viggo Standards" was another language - Viggo only gets to speak "southern American" in this film!
Interestingly, this was Viggo's last movie before the Lord of the Rings series. So he went from a very understated role, to one which made him world famous.
Movie Review: Finally...
Summary: 4 Stars
A script so good that even Sandra Bullock's annoying presence can't mess it up. There are still some typical "Sandra" moments, but for the most part in this movie, you forget you are watching her, and it's a great film. This is a comedy.
I have this DVD and watched it with commentary. I must say the director came off like a complete ass, but maybe she had a bad day. There are other cute features, like instructions on how to make a gum-wrapper chain like Sandra makes in the movie.
Basic storyline:
Gwen is a party girl who gets busted for a DUI. She is sentenced to rehab. At first she thinks rehab is whack and cheesy. She doesnt participate with the others, and has her party-boy boyfriend sneak her drugs. But then she starts to think she really may have a problem. Will Gwen straighten up, or continue with her partying ways? Will she accept the proposal of her drunk-druggie boyfriend?
This movie is above all a comedy. The addicts will make you laugh, Gwen's reaction to them will make you laugh. Steve Buschemi plays a rehab counselor, and while he isn't funny in this role, he is interesting.
There are a few sub-plots. Gwen's rehab roomie is a teenage heroin addict. Also, a major-league pitcher (sex addict, druggie) comes to rehab and bonds with Gwen. These arent too detracting from Gwen and in fact it would be boring if the whole movie was just about her.
I don't think this movie did so well, and that's why you can get the DVD for cheap. If you have ever had a drug or alcohol problem, this movie will seem a lot funnier to you, than to someone who has never been into any of that.
I guess the bottom line is that people should not just brush this off as a "Sandra Bullock movie". I have seen a lot of her movies and this is definitely the best. It isn't brainless comedy. It isn't genius either, but it is definitely enjoyable and I think worth a purchase.