" alcohol and drugs = bad .
not alcohol and drugs =
good .
got it ?
" just when you though you 've seen enough of brave young women dealing with their personal problems on screen , be that insanity or alcoholism , hollywood releases yet another one of those ' deep , emotional stories about finding yourself ' . .
' 28 days ' is practically a visualization of the usual ' meaningful ' true stories that people are so proudly retelling at aa - meetings .
gwennie ( sandra bullock ) is a young woman who drowned her problems in alcohol .
for her life was a big party , with no beginning and no end .
this behavior has of course estranged her from her only sister and from life itself .
her existence is filled with endless parties and comic episodes .
such as when she got drunk with boyfriend jasper ( dominic west ) , borrowed her sister 's ( elizabeth perkins ) wedding limo and crashed it into someone 's house .
this time she had to pay with a 28 day stay in court - ordered rehab .
here she must realize that the only thing that can save her is her is redemption , willpower and commitment .
most important she must realize her place and direction in life and understand that her life is not just a big party .
the film itself feels like a rehab program , whining and moaning about things that have been said and written a million times .
it is a classic cautionary tale .
an echo .
a big , fat and expensive clich ? .
a shadow of last year 's ' girl , interrupted ' , which likewise followed in the footsteps of great masterpieces like ' the cuckoo 's nest ' and ' trainspotting ' .
director betty thomas has stuffed her film with so many failures and errors , that it is impossible to sum them all up in one review .
for some paranoid reason she decided to make her film a drama / comedy .
jokes and funny characters almost deliberately delude you from the really important and complex issues : alienation , despair , terror , confusion , loneliness .
and what awesome power and strength of character it actually takes to overcome all that and become clean .
is n't that what the filmmakers wanted to show in the first place ?
even the transition process itself seems like a walk in the park .
betty thomas ' idea of hell is a cozy , homey place where happy alcoholics and cheerful drug addicts are not allowed to smoke , drink or watch tv after 11 .
it is simply too light , simplified and unnecessary sweet to be taken seriously .
but the worst thing about it is that it actually thinks that it is saying something of significance .
that it actually tries to educate the audience with its extremely predictable and primitive story .
"
all you need to do is just say no " , says dr .
cornell ( steve buscemi )
as if was the revelation of the century .
and that 's how simple it is !
in fact i would rather watch ' lost in space ' once again , than return to ' 28 days ' .
as for acting , it 's acceptable , but hardly anything else .
for sandra bullock it 's an opportunity to demonstrate that she is capable of more than ' speed ' .
she handles her part with a surprising professionalism and ease that certainly saves the film from being a complete flop .
dominic west shines as the source of gwenie 's devilish temptations , but elizabeth perkins ' and steve buscemi 's great talents are wasted on unnoticeable and shallow characters .
although intellectually ' girl , interrupted ' was a greater achievement , ' 28 days ' is superior in its visual aspect .
there are some nice flash back sequences and occasionally impressive pacing , but the overall technical aspect of this film is on the ground floor .
the most important thing is that we 've seen it before and it was a lot better . ' clean and sober ' , ' only when i laugh ' , ' when a man loves a woman ' , ' leaving las vegas ' and many other stronger films were made about the same issues .
so what 's the point ?
in other words ' 28 days ' does n't contribute to the moviemaking business on any level .
if you 're caught in a snowstorm or bolts of lightning fall from the sky and you 're standing in front of the movie theatre , you might as well go in and watch ' 28 days ' .
under all other circumstances stay away , because this film equals $ 8 and 103 minutes lost .
Output: N