With the immense commercial and critical success of "American Beauty," it wouldn't take a psychic to predict an onslaught of tragi-comedy in the next year. Director Betty Thomas is the first in line with "28 Days," a comedy/drama about substance abuse and rehabilitation.
Gwen (Sandra Bullock) is our flawed heroine with bourbon as her Achilles' heel. If we're tempted to chalk up her wild partying to a normal, 20-something rite of passage, we soon change our minds when her little habit leads her to hijack a limo at her sister's wedding (in search of a "cake store" to replace the five-tiered beauty she has just destroyed) and crash it into a house.
In lieu of jail time, Gwen is sentenced to 28 days in the Serenity rehabilitation clinic. There, she must overcome denial and cynicism (in spite of overeager patients chanting gems like, "We don't need drugs or whiskey sours / We have got a higher power / Yay, God!") and start on the road to recovery.
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Bullock revived the charming girl-next-door role in films like "While You Were Sleeping." However, after a few more "America's sweetheart" characters ("Hope Floats," "Practical Magic"), she attempted an edgier role in "Forces of Nature" but fell uncomfortably flat. As Gwen, she tries again to shake the wholesome image - without losing her endearing appeal - and this time she succeeds. Bullock's Gwen is charming with limits. Despite her allure, she is not above our disapproval.
Her romantic interests are less, well, interesting. Dominic West plays Jasper, the enabler boyfriend, without much nuance; he remains blandly unappealing from beginning to end. Gwen's much-hyped rehab romance fizzles with Eddie, played by Viggo Mortensen, who walks through his scenes looking either confused or completely blank (oddly fitting to his role as a professional athlete). Neither of these actors are a match for Bullock's earnest appeal.
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Yet the movie does not lack satisfying character interaction, thanks to the strength of a few other supporting actors. The ubiquitous Steve Buscemi as rehab counselor Cornell is decidedly out of character as the straight man amongst a gang of oddballs. It is a testament to Buscemi's talent that he commands attention even in such a subtle, unadorned role. Gwen's scenes with Cornell, as well as those with her sister (Elizabeth Perkins), provide the sentiment that her romantic moments lack.
Diane Ladd as Bobbie Jean and Alan Tudyk as Gerhardt round out the wacky supporting cast. Ladd plays the world-weary yet vulnerable Bobbie Jean gracefully. Tudyk is a bit over the top in his early scenes but seems to settle into his off-beat role in the second half; his final scene is priceless.
The script, written by Susannah Grant, walks a very thin line between comedy and drama, which ultimately is the film's biggest obstacle. Grant understandably wanted to avoid trivializing a serious issue by making light of Gwen's rehab experience, but consequently, the script sometimes plunges too deeply into melodrama. Gwen's drunken antics are excessive and implausible; it's impossible to understand why, after the first of many indecent incidents at her sister's wedding, no one even attempted to curtail her drinking for the rest of the evening. In addition, a tragic accident at the rehab center is meant to darken the otherwise lighthearted mood but is truly unnecessary and little more than a movie cliché.
"28 Days" tries to be a lot of things - funny, sad, romantic, offbeat - but it tends to rely too much on contrived plot devices to be those things. In trying to find a balance between laughter and pain, Thomas would have been wise to stick with simple character studies. After all, the clinic's motto, "One Day at a Time," reveals plainly and poignantly enough that, for those trapped by addiction, there is both hope and despair in just getting through each day. To their credit, Grant and Thomas show us characters with a compelling story to tell - but perhaps the film would have fared better had they let them tell it.
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