28 Days Rating: Release Date: 03 June, 2003 Retail Price: $14.94 OUR Price: $12.99 You SAVE: $1.95! Cast: Sandra Bullock Viggo Mortensen Steve Buscemi Reni Santoni Complete Cast (9 total)

28 Days Reviews

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A Great Balanced Dramatic Comedy about Real Addiction
As an addiction counselor, who happens to be an addict and alcoholic in recovery, I found the film to a great depiction of various aspects of addiction. The satirical comedy scenes of the chanting were delightful and depicted the sense of silliness that most addicts or alcoholics see them as at first. The dramatic scenes of withdrawal and attempted suicide are very true. The need to change from an addictive social network to a sober support network is also true. I loved the horse scene at the end where the main character finally got a sense of spiritual victory when she finally submitted to the need for help. This is a film that captures the serious nature of addiction with a hint of humor in a manner that will allow the largest audience to gain insights into addiction and recovery. I am using this film in a family systems approaches in addiction course that I teach at a university. I also use the film in groups to serve as a conversation starter. Watch, laugh, cry, and learn.

28 Days... Then What?
Sandra Bullock plays a reckless woman, supposedly a writer, although this was only mentioned once in passing, who, along with her British boyfriend is constantly boozing and partying it up. She also seems to be hooked on painkillers. After ruining her sister's wedding, then stealing a limosene and drunkenly crashing it into a house, she (although this is not shown in the film), is sentenced to 28 days in rehab as an alternative to jail. In rehab, she meets some interesting characters with various addictions, and eventually starts to own up to her problems and begin her recovery.

The rehab characters, who each curiously show us about 30 seconds of insight, seem promising, but what we learn about them is vague. The lame chanting in the rehab center is silly, in that it is never explained why people buy into it so readily. At times the film played like an educational video about the dangers of alcohol/drug addiction, but even falls short there, as the center clearly is lacking in addressing some areas of treatment. Some performances are decent, while others are not so good. What happens after the 28 days are up, are we to simply assume what her life is going to be like? The film seemed better suited as a TV movie, really..

I could keep nitpicking, but I think you get the idea. Although it kept me interested, I was not exactly entertained, as the trailer hinted that this was to be an entertaining film. I was pretty much disappointed by it

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