Days of Wine and Roses

Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055895/]

The Gist:
Days of Wine and Roses is a film about alcoholism and every moment it pretends to be about something else, the film falls a bit flat (with the exception of how the couple meet, which is very charming). Honestly, I didn't care much for the film until it got into the heart of its conflict which was well past an hour into the running time. As Jack Lemmon's character struggles with sobriety and the knowledge that he is an alcoholic, there are so many rich moments in the film that it makes me forgive the fact that I found it so boring up until the half-way mark. Lemmon's dilemma is two-fold, not only must he conquer his own alcoholism but he must find a way not to slip back into it as he tries to bring his wife back from the brink herself. His love for her soon becomes a great hindrance to his recovery as she proves a harder case, denying even that she is an alcoholic as she gluts herself on Gin in a dirty hotel room. The film's depiction of alcoholism is unfortunately a bit melodramatic and feels a little disingenuous, but that's something I'll live with if the conflict is good. Here, it's very good, but you have to wait for it.