review: Drunks

On a basic level, this is an interesting character study. It is based on a play and, although I have never seen the play performed, it probably works rather well. On film, however, it is average at best, and I will admit that without a few drinks, I might have found it less tolerable. Richard Lewis’ character, Jim, breaks away from his “recovery” group to go on a bender which turns into an introspective exploration into the true unjust nature of life (which is the most interesting part and doesn’t last near long enough). Ironically, this film typifies the reason why escape is a necessary commodity of life and, although I think that there were some lessons to be learned other than the one I experienced, some of the performances were pretty good and there was some mediocre dialogue mixed into the script of Drunks. Here is what I would take from this film: I want a drink and don’t want anyone to stand in my way. If I ever get involved with some religious based “self-help” group which is not “self” at all, and instead a bunch of hypocrites getting together to lie to each other instead of themselves, I will have an endless amount of moronic, self-righteous do-gooders standing between me and the bar. That being said, I give this film credit for reinforcing my stance on support groups. They are to be avoided at all costs.