Days of Wine and Roses

My expectations probably influenced me more than usual, I just wanted a fun movie with Lemmon :( [no, I didn't look into this movie at all before watching]. Message movies are mainly boring/one-note, this is no exception, and even the performances don't have much value outside of a few scenes. The first 20 minutes or so were damn good though.

A sober film on alcoholism. It starts off as a sweet romantic movie, but it's not before long that Edwards switches towards drama. Jack Lemmon is absolutely perfect, especially during the scenes of his nervous breakdown, and Lee Remick is almost equally potent, while the script slams the door on almost every cliche you can think of.

A little heavy on the AA propaganda, but Remick is excellent and Lemmon's performance--particularly his breakdown--is absolutely astonishing.

*

A wrenching story of two ordinary people, who both have become desperate alcoholics. The plot is grim, the acting superb. Powerful and absorbing.

Lemmon and Remick were powerful.

It's a little extreme and unbelievable in some parts - it feels like what films about drugs are like today. What really makes this movie special are the performances from Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick. Lemmon is known as more of a comedic actor, and while he does some of that here, he also shows he's very capable of conveying real pain and anguish.

Starts out as a tame romantic comedy to soon evolve into a surprisingly bleak and occasionally wrenching drama about alcohol addiction. Lennon reaffirms why he's one of the best actors ever, Remick is also excellent and overall the film manages to balance nicely between all-out melodrama and more quietly observant cautionary tale. It's not amazing, but it packs quite an impact and the fact that it, for the most part, avoids preaching definitely works as an advantage.

Finger wagging violently. I think this could have been a good dark comedy - though I guess an argument could be made for it already being that.

Jack Lemmon is phenomenal. Knowing now that he was an alcoholic adds a new dimension to his performance. Lee Remick is also great. The cinematography is nice and you just can't beat that final shot.

A gross exaggeration of the majority of alcoholics. What could have been better off as an extended story of how they got to a certain point ended up being an overbearing and certainly an overacted visual pamphlet for AA. Skip this, even though the ending isn't bad, it's a low point for Lemmon.

This movie presents one of the ugliest and most despicable character downward spirals presented in any film... And it does it so perfectly. The performances in it are completely believable. This movie is just a masterpiece, even if it becomes hard to watch after the beginning.

So, so depressing. I don't watch movies to feel worse about life.

good acting

Good performances, though feels very dated when someone is thrown into the looney bin and tied up in a straight jacket for being an alcoholic.

I wouldn't watch if I knew beforehand that it was an Alcoholics Anonymous ephemeral movie.

While the message here comes perilously close to preachy, the incredible performances put in by Lemmon and Remick are captivating.

One of the few movies that takes a serious look at alcoholism. Also one of Jack Lemmon's few non-comedic roles.

I found this movie boring and over preachy, the chemistry between Lemon and Remick was very good, but couldn't sustain the movie. Probably ahead for its time, but has lost credibility today.

Sometimes forgetten as a great actor of drama, Lemmon is simply brilliant in this movie. Darkly funny and beautifully shot. Highly recommeded.

This cautionary tale can feel a bit too much like a lesson from an infomercial but the very nice performances more than make up for that.

"It's still the same thing: dissatisfaction with what is supposed to be The American Dream." http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2014/05/episode-15.html

Excellent.

Both Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick give outstanding performances in this film. The script is great, it takes a more realistic approach to alcoholism. Overall I would highly recommend this film.

One of the great drunk movies.

The early 60's could be a funny period where you could get films that aspired to real gritty seriousness, but also got held back by some bad Hollywood storytelling ideas. This film sits in that zone without leaning too far into the bad ideas.

What begins as a romance story steadily turns into a powerful drama about alcoholism and the horrendous effects it can have. Edwards' direction and Miller's script are terrific, and Lemmon is sensational - he and Remick anchor the film superbly, and both excel in the difficult art of drunk acting. Thankfully it doesn't have an overly preachy tone or a far-fetched happy ending, which makes it all the more compelling.

John Frankenheimer, director of the TV play, said Lemmon vetoed him because he didn't think Frankenheimer could do comedy. An odd statement perhaps illuminated by the changes: a story of two drunks becomes a drunk man corrupting a sober woman after darkly comic courting (/wearing down). More melodramatic, but also more dynamic, "alive", esp. without the AA flashback frame. One new scene involving cockroaches is awful and belongs in another movie. Or maybe Blake Edwards just couldn't do comedy.

What makes Days of Wine and Roses effective is the vast and striking transformation that occurs throughout it. Joe Clay and Kirsten Arnesen are completely different people by the end, even by the middle, than they are at the beginning.

The acting doesn't age well.