There is no doubt this is a terribly depressing film with a sense of emotional/interpersonal realism that you almost wouldn't expect in a Hollywood film of this era - - The only film that comes close to it perhaps is "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf". The golden rule of Hollywood films afterall is, "And they all lived happily ever after," however, the film cuts no corners in portraying not only the disease of alcoholism, but its complex dynamics within human relationships as the characters in this film eventually transform from lovers to drinking partners who's relationship is the bottle itself. As the film progresses (without giving too much away) they will have to choose between becoming sober yet losing one another or staying drunk and in love - - both believing that perhaps they can go back to the days of wine and roses... when they were drunk... yet happy, but of course, this is a mere fantasy that the characters are forced to reckon with.

Jack Klugman plays a brilliant AA sponsor - - Lemmon's acting is powerful, convicing - - at times comedic, and at other times deeply disturbing. - - If you get it, be sure to have something funny and bright to put in the VCR afterwords... the biting realism of the film does not redeem the viewer with any cinematic devices to ensure that "good feeling" most movies try to leave us with... in the end you'll pretty much feel as sick, hung over and tormented as the characters... however, you will realize that you have just experienced one of the greatest films of its its era and genre !


ORIGINAL IS STILL THE BEST   February 8, 2002
 4 out of 8 found this review helpful

yeah, yeah, yeah we know this is the big Hollywood version..but you have to see the original Playhouse 90 version, with Cliff Robertson and Piper Laurie!! its available on VHS (I have it) and 10 times better than this retread....Piper Laurie was incredible...CLiff Robertson says that when he lost the film version to Lemmon, Lemmon said "I didn't think you'd be able to play comedy"...to which Robertson replied; "I didn't think 'Days of Wine & Roses' was a comedy"..it's all there in the supplemental material on the VHS....see it instead of this version!!


A Good all too True to Life Tale   January 7, 2002
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES is basically a story of two genuinely good people who fall in love and into the abyss of alcoholism. One escapes and the other can not. This film is a sad but realistically true statement on the pitfalls of alcoholism and addiction in general. Parents and children of those addicted are the victims as well. Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick and Jack Klugman all give excellent performances. However, Charles Bickford gives the most vivid performance as Remick's father. He remains cold and detached to her addiction until he breaks down and the audience breaks down with him. The film's ending of Jack Lemmon peering through the window is a devastating statement on the effects and the reality that once you enter the world of alcohol you may never return. This is an unusually sensitive treatment than we are used to from Director Blake Edwards. Thanks to J.P. Miller's script, an exceptional cast, Philip H. Lathrop's cinematography and Henry Mancini's score Edward's constructed a very important film yet one hard to watch.


Jack Lemmon's sobering portrait of an alcoholic   July 2, 2001
 67 out of 71 found this review helpful

I was never really interested in drinking alcohol and after catching "Days of Wine and Roses" on late night television I knew I was never going to drink, never get drunk, and never end up like the character of Joe Clay, played by the late Jack Lemmon. Joe is in public relations and cannot have a good time unless he is drinking. He meets up with Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick), and informed she does not drink but loves chocolate, he orders her a Brandy Alexander. Joe and Kirsten marry, although her father Ellis Arnesen (Charles Bickford), is not sure he approves. Joe's alcoholism finally costs him his job and by then Kirsten is boozing just as much. In one of the most ghastly scenes in movie history, Joe destroys the Arnesen greenhouse, looking for the bottles of booze he has buried with one of the plants. With the help of A.A. Counselor Jim Hungerford (Jack Klugman), Joe finally starts to get his life together. But Kirsten cannot do the same, even for the sake of their daughter Debbie.

With Lemmon's death a lot of his old movies are suddenly popping up on cable television. I watched "Days of Wine and Roses" again last night and it is every bit as powerful and as horrific as I remember. No other film has made the life of an alcoholic look so hopeless, not "Leaving Last Vegas" and certainly not "Lost Weekend." Lemmon and Remick were both nominated for Oscars for their performances, while Henry Mancini's title song won the Academy Award. Charles Bickford repeated the role he originated in the "Playhouse 90" version aired in 1958, which was directed by James Frankenheimer. Blake Edwards directed this 1962 movie because the studio told Frankenheimer he could not direct a comedy like this film. Both scripts were written by J. P. Miller. Bottom line: Nobody who ever watches this movie will ever forget it.


The greenhouse effect   July 2, 2001
 24 out of 24 found this review helpful

The late Jack Lemmon is likely to be remembered by most moviegoers for his memorable comic presence in classics like "Some Like It Hot" and the "Odd Couple", but anyone who ever doubted his capacity for dramatic acting should screen "Days Of Wine And Roses". This shattering 1962 Blake Edwards drama was shockingly realistic for its time (apparently prompting opening-week "walkouts" by many Lemmon fans expecting another "funny" role). The film still packs quite a wallop in its depiction of an alcoholic couple and thier hellish descent. Lee Remick, forever underrated, (undoubtedly due to her luminous beauty) delivers another of her brainy, mature performances. Everyone mentions the "greenhouse scene", but I feel the most intense moment comes in the "padded room" scene, with a sweating, screaming, strait-jacketed Lemmon writhing in "withdrawal". Call it "sense memory", "method" or whatever, but to this day it remains one of the the most "naked" scenes of an actor totally "in the moment" ever captured on film. A great American film, and a classic Henry Mancini score to boot.