Strictly average movie

Beautiful, moving film.

It is not only a funny movie, but it allows a great amount of joy for anyone who watches it.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Unique roles for Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick, usually they act in comedies but this is a solid drama. Together with Charles Bickford, they give three high-acting performances. Especially Lee Remick, she is unrecognizable as a perpetual drunkard. Simple, convincing, credible, realistic, like in real life. But again, watch out, because it's very sad, specially the ending...

Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford, and Jack Klugman star in "Days of Wine and Roses" from 1962.Joe Clay (Lemmon) is a successful public relations man who drinks a great deal as part of his job. When he meets and falls for Kirsten Arnasen, he introduces her to the joys of alcohol.They marry but descend into an alcoholic stupor, with attempts at sobriety failing. This is a devastating film. Kirsten wasn't a drinker when Joe meets her, and unbeknownst to her, had the genetic predisposition to alcohol. To see what happens to her, to both of them, is horrible. The actors are superb.One unforgettable scene takes place in a greenhouse where Joe has hidden a bottle and can't find it.The most difficult part of this film is the end. Someone did a scene from this in my acting class (actually the last scene) and the actor kept referring to the female character as Curse. My acting teacher said, "Actually it's "Keerce" though a Curse she may be."A troubling film that won't leave you long after it's over. Addiction of any kind is a horrible and destructive thing.

Dear Alcoholics, Days of Wine and Roses (1962) is yet another film that portrays us in really bad light. The moronic ex- alcoholic protagonist (played by the great Jack Lemmon) gives up alcohol and goes back to being a square while his intelligent alcoholic wife (the achingly beautiful Lee Remick) does the right thing and walks out on him to continue being an alcoholic.How predictable right? Whats so great about the world that you need to stay sober? Parties without alcohol are the most boring on earth.Most humans are boring or vicious people.Alcohol on the other hand is a nice person. Alcohol never lets you down. Alcohol is always there. Alcohol does not have bad days. Alcohol does not switch off. Alcohol is my best friend. It can be yours too. Mans best friend - alcohol and not smelly dogs. Though dogs are OK. If you want a friend buy a bottle of JD - Godron Geeko.There aren't enough alcoholics in the world.Movies and religious fools portray alcoholics as people who need help. No. It is the non-alcoholics who need help - you with your stupid agendas and your careers and your religions and your stinking rules.How about prohibiting religion and not alcohol? Alcoholics never flew a plane into a building.Alcoholics never dropped nuclear bombs on anyone.If anything, the world needs more alcohol.Many a life has been rendered dull and meaningless due to lack of alcohol.Those dull and hot nights. Those Monday mornings. Those Sunday evenings.Those boring jobs. Those horrible people. All those bad movies.All of this can be endured with a little alcohol.So repeat after me.Alcohol for the whole of humanity.Coming back to the movie, it is not too bad. They do get some things right. Like how the corrupt jobs that decent people have to do attracts them to the bottle. Lee Remick's short speech at the end also hits the spot.It is definitely a flawed film. There are some serious plot holes. Like what happened to their kid while mom and dad were drinking. Lol! Who brought up that kid? Or did they slip some whiskey into her milk too? Hohoho! They did not show that part.Anyway, I love movies about alcoholics, whatever the message at the end might be.Best Regards, Pimpin.(7/10)

The 1960's saw a change in American cinema. Producers seemed to be moving away from the conventional approach of ham-fisted delivery and super fast-talking, and going for something altogether more realistic. The Hays Code was losing power with the influx of foreign films that weren't bound by any strict ruling, and audiences were obviously striving for something more challenging and confrontational. Blake Edward's Days of Wine and Roses, a powerful portrayal of a marriage crumbling beneath alcoholism, is a clear example of this. Alcoholism had been depicted before of course, but never in such a downright distressing manner. Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend followed writer Don Birnam (played by Ray Milland) as alcohol destroyed his very soul. But that was back in 1945, when the Hays Code was at the height of its power, so it would always be restrained. It is undoubtedly an excellent film, but Days of Wine and Roses gets under the skin of the 'disease', and although it is ultimately a poorer film in comparison to The Lost Weekend, it is certainly more profound and powerful.Public relations man Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) meets and falls in love with teetotal secretary Kirsten (Lee Remick), and after a whirlwind romance, the couple quickly marry. Skip forward a year, and Joe has turned into a full-blown alcoholic, frequently returning home late from work and behaving erratically. When his drinking starts to effect his job, Joe is demoted, causing a strain on home life. The couple slump into addiction, sharing the joys and struggles of succumbing entirely to the bottle. After Joe loses his job, they quit drinking, identifying it as the reason their marriage is struggling and potentially losing custody of their daughter. But unbeknownst to them, they are locked in a three-way marriage, and a drink is always around the corner.Based on screenwriter J.P. Miller's own teleplay, Days of Wine and Roses is shot in stark yet beautiful black-and-white, pulling no punches and avoiding romantic sentimentality. Jack Lemmon is superb as Joe, a man who confronts his problem yet also sees it as the glue that binds his marriage together. It is the only thing they can share equal joy with, yet for their marriage to work, they simply must get sober. But Kirsten (an equally superb performance from Remick) refuses to let go, lost in her addiction so much she is willing to lose her husband and daughter to it. The film is depressing yet emotional, complex yet simple, clinically done by Edwards, who engages with unfussy and suitably minimalistic direction. Although it does to get a little bit too stagey sometimes, it is a joy to behold, leaving you an ironically sober feeling.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com