28 Days - Predictably Enjoyable

28 Days

Director: Betty Thomas

Gwen, you make it impossible to love you. –Lily

Man, this is not a way to live. This is a way to die. –Cornell

I don't need any more stories; I have enough stories. I would like a life. –Gwen

Don't drink, go to meetings, find a sponsor, ask for help. –Daniel

Don't ever be someone's slogan, because you are poetry. –Gwen

Even the pain in the ass needs someone to take care of them. I didn't do that… I didn't, and I should have. –Lilly

With as many stars as this movie has in it – not least among them is Sandra Bullock, of whom I'm a fan – I'm really surprised it never made it into my Netflix lineup prior to this project. And as far as casting goes, it's chock full of good and great actors who play the smaller roles quite well! Viggo Mortensen (yep, Aragorn), Azura Skye (who, oddly, I remember most as Jane in an old TV show Zoe, Duncan, Jack & Jane), Steve Buscemi (he's been in so many movies, yet sadly the first mental image of him I have is of his putting on lipstick at the end of Billy Madison; sorry, Steve), Elizabeth Perkins (seeing her makes me want to re-watch Indian Summer), Alan Tudyk (Steve the Pirate), Mike O’Malley (unfortunately no matter what he does, he will always live in my mind as the host of Nickelodeon’s Guts and Global Guts)…

Let's see what Netflix.com has to say:

After her drunken antics ruin her sister's wedding and result in major property damage, journalist Gwen Cummings enters rehab, where she runs afoul of the program director – and soon meets a fellow resident who changes her outlook.

This movie does a pretty good job of delivering a good message about overcoming your worldly demons by dealing with your inner ones. Predictable though it is – did you really think Gwen wouldn't be able to lift the horse's leg in the end? or that she wouldn't overcome her addictions, both to alcohol and pills and to her destructive boyfriend-turned-fiancé? – the predictability doesn't get in the way of entertainment. And the writers, seemingly aware enough of the possibility of a predictable plot leading to a bored viewer, added a few unexpected moments to keep the plot from stalling out.

The story revolves around Gwen Cummings and her court-mandated trip to rehab to overcome her alcohol and pill abuse. While she ultimately is successful (see previous paragraph on predictability), she has a relapse or two and nearly gets kicked out of the facility. One of Gwen's biggest problems – drinking and drugs aside, of course – is that she never asks for help. This comes up several times in the movie. Cornell notices it and eventually Gwen herself even admits it to her sister. And it's when she finally shouts it out on a New York street that she's able to get the horse to lift its hoof. That moment leads her to leave Jasper and it seems that it's at that moment that she knows she can make it outside of rehab.

This is a good movie with a great cast – l laughed at times and will admit to tearing up when Lily and Gwen talked it out near the end. Did this movie change my life? No. Do I think it's Sandra Bullock's best film? No. Would I watch it again? Most definitely!

My takeaway: Sometimes it's the internal conflicts that need to be resolved before the external addictions can be rehabbed. And horses are much more intuitive (and stubborn) than I thought.