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| Days of Wine and Roses | 
| Category: Movie
Buy New: $2.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  56 reviews
Sales Rank: 4604
Media: Video Download
Running Time: 118 minutes
ASIN: B000I5PPMU
Theatrical Release Date: December 25, 1962
Release Date: June 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Maybe the most honest film on addiction ever made!! September 5, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I have heard it said many times that no addiction starts out as a physical dependancy; addiction really begins as a psycological/spiritual defect deep down inside. I think the way that the movie in the beginning showed the insecurity and unease of the two main characters is the most underrated aspect of this brilliant film. The alcohol washes away the unease and pain for awhile, but when the mask wears off, literally, all hell breaks loose!!
Some have commented that Jack Lemmon's greenhouse scene and subsequent mental-ward scene were not realistic. I disagree with this, as I think his character's mental state was such that a complete breakdown was a very real possibility at that point in the story. Ultimately, this film is more than just a story of the dangers of alcoholism. It is a story of the dangers of low self-esteem and not loving yourself. THAT is the true breeding ground for addiction, and I don't know if there has ever been a film that does a more effective job of illustrating this!! An absolute classic...one for the ages!!
 Great, maybe the best movie about alcoholism August 26, 2006
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
What I like about this movie is the honesty about addiction. It is very much like portrayed in this movie. And yes, woman do go down quicker. And AA doesn't work as well for woman. Bill W. didn't want woman in the fellowship and the bias is evident in the Big Book (the nickname for their manifesto).
It's heartbreaking to see Lee Remick walking the street alone in the dark leaving her husband and child. AA needs to treat woman better than they do instead of the "tough love" that is given.
Excellent Movie July 2, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I watched this movie because I love Jack Lemmon. Mostly I like his comedies, like The Odd Couple and Some Like it Hot. Although this wasn't a comedy, I still enjoyed every bit of it for its brilliant acting and powerful message to alcoholics everywhere.
Joe Clay can not stop drinking, and meets a girl who becomes an alcoholic too. Joe finally destroys his father-in-law's flower garden just trying to find his hidden booze, and ends up in AA, the leader of which is played by Jack Klugman (another of my favorite actors). His wife is unwilling to attend the meetings, and thus, never recovers.
This is a wonderful movie that should inspire any alcoholics out there to never take another drink. It is also really well acted.
good movie but not realistic June 28, 2006
1 out of 9 found this review helpful
Everybody keeps saying how realistic this movie is but its not. The scene in the nursery is very overblown and melodramatic. I've never seen anyone act like that. And you dont wind up in a mental ward in a straight jacket just from drinking. This movie is really just an AA commercial presenting a stereotypical view of the progression of an alcoholics life. However the acting is great and its very well done as a movie. Its very dramatic and interesting although it can be a little depressing as one reviewer observed. By the way "Leaving Las Vegas" is not really about alcoholism its more of a love story. And I think "The Lost Weekend" is much more realistic than "Days of Wine and Roses" even though its much older. The brutality of this movie does not make it more realistic it makes it less realistic. Scenes are exaggerated for dramatic purpose. Since a movie should not be judged by its realism as most unrealistic movies are the best Im giving it 5 stars.
Hit me again, please. It's magic time ... April 2, 2006
23 out of 23 found this review helpful
Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) is an up-and-coming Public Relations agent in the era of the three-martini lunch and "drinks with the boys" following the workday. While providing a client with, literally, a boatload of girls, Joe meets receptionist Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick), a good girl from a stable country upbringing.
Joe introduces Kirsten to alcohol in the form of a Brandy Alexander, and before long the two fall in love and marry. Joe provides a good living for his wife and new baby daughter, but becomes depressed from the quiet family life and a baby that takes up all of his wife's attention. In a truly gut-wrenching scene, Joe berates and completely degrades Kirsten for not being any fun anymore, throwing a temper tantrum while drunk and demanding that she stop nursing her own baby (mammary envy) because its going to ruin her shape. A very poignant and heart braking scene.
Kirsten is deeply in love with Joe, and concedes to his demands to "loosen up a little and be fun again", which means having a couple of drinks with him. It isn't long before Kirsten is drinking all the time, and very common of women in the early sixties, Kirsten starts smoking (probably to help lose weight, though this isn't mentioned beyond Joe's comment about her shape).
Joe's career slides as his drinking increases, causing him to be late for work and upsetting his clients. His company assigns him to a lower-level client in far away Houston. While Joe tries to do his job there, Kirsten sets their apartment on fire from drinking and smoking. Joe is fired, and not long afterward Joe has an epiphany. He is a bum, and his wife is a bum, and they need to stop drinking.
Kirsten's father takes the struggling couple into his home where he runs a nursery. After a couple of months sober, Joe and Kirsten fall off the wagon together in a riotous binge in their room. A second very poignant incident follows where Joe trashes his father-in-law's nursery looking for the bottle he hid. This scene may seem overdone at first, but just tune into one episode of 'Cops' and you will see how well Jack Lemmon played this scene.
This time, Joe winds out in the hospital going through some overblown withdrawal symptoms, and it is here he meets Jim Hungerford (Jack Klugman) from Alcoholics Anonymous. Once in AA, Joe tries to fight his disease, while Kirsten remains in absolute denial of being an alcoholic. You must remember that this movie was made in 1962, and there was quite a stigma attached to being an alcoholic, the 60's version of a scarlet letter.
There is no happily-ever-after in this movie. Though made in 1962, it is still the best of the 'alcoholic' movies ever made. 'Leaving Las Vegas' certainly portrayed a down-and-out alcoholic, but the character Ben from that modern portrayal wanted to die. 'Days Of Wine And Roses' is the story of two people's struggle against alcoholism, not their submission to it.
There is nothing outdated about this movie except the fashion; times change, behaviors don't. Kirsten's confession that she "just wants things to look prettier than they are" rings so true to addiction in any form or from any era. This movie is about people and the disease, not the time-period, so it stands up to any of the modern day addiction stories.
'Days Of Wine And Roses' is a true classic, a timeless piece that is both sad and entertaining. Take a quick note of the fact that in Joe and Kirsten's first apartment, the bar was right outside the baby's room. I thought that was a bit ironic.
If you love addiction movies, modern pieces like 'Leaving Las Vegas', 'Requiem For A Dream', 'Spun', or 'Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas', you will love 'Days Of Wine And Roses'. Enjoy!
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