Drunks

Stand-up comic Richard Lewis, Calista Flockhart, and Faye Dunaway are the recognizable names in DRUNKS, a film directed by Peter Cohn, who has focused on documentary work since his debut in this indie feature. If you’ve been in AA, know someone who has been in AA, or just want to see a pretty decent indie from when they were really independent films, it’s not bad. Yes, Lewis gets a little bug-eyed at times, but he’s right to be proud of this movie, which I heard him mention in an interview on Paul Williams’ podcast.

There are some cool “lost nugget” songs on the soundtrack, and you’ll also get a nice view of Times Square in the period when Rudy Giuliani managed to shut down all of the porn theatres and grindhouses, leaving their marquees bare or in some cases with derisive, mocking slogans about their defeat. We also see Lewis shuffling by a male burlesque storefront. It was a rougher New York, but gentrification was stirring and about to poke its head up to the very sky. Anyway, it's a head. It’s neat little film - low budget, to be sure, but competent enough.

There's a review of Drunks on my review thread somewhere...it's an OK movie, the performances are a little overripe and its conception of AA is a little dated, but it does get the message across about the dangers of alcoholism.

I never heard of it until now, but I seem to like movies with a lot of conversation or monologues (as long as they're good!). Thanks!