This is the story of a successful New York writer, Gwen Cummings, and her struggle with alcohol abuse. After one particular drunken outburst at her sisters wedding, she is arrested... more
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28 Days [2000]
To appreciate 28 Days, it's best to be thankful that director Betty Thomas hasn't forced
... more
Sandra Bullock into a remake of Clean and Sober. Instead Thomas has balanced her comedic sensibility (evident in Dr. Dolittle and Private Parts) with the seriousne...
28 Days [2000]
To appreciate 28 Days, it's best to be thankful that director Betty Thomas hasn't forced
... more
Sandra Bullock into a remake of Clean and Sober. Instead Thomas has balanced her comedic sensibility (evident in Dr. Dolittle and Private Parts) with the seriousne...
28 Days Later ... [2002]
Anti-vivisection activists make a very bad judgment call and release an experimental
... more
monkey infected with "rage". 28 Days Later..., as the title has it, bicycle messenger Cillian Murphy wakes up from a post-traffic accident coma in a deserted London hospital, ventures out to find the city depopulated and the few remaining normal people doing everything to avoid the jittery, savage, zombie-like "infecteds" who attack on sight. Our bewildered hero has to adjust to the loss of his family and the entire world, but hooks up with several others--including a tough black woman (Naomie Harris) and a likable London cabbie (Brendan Gleeson)--on a perilous trip northwards, to seek refuge at army officer Christopher Eccleston's fortified retreat. However, even if they survive the plague, the future of humanity is still in doubt. Directed by Danny Boyle and scripted by novelist Alex Garland, this is a terrific SF/horror hybrid, evoking American and Italian zombie movies but also the very British end-of-the-world tradition of John Wyndham (Day of the Triffids) and Survivors. Shot on digital video, which gives the devastated cityscapes a closed-circuit-camera realism, this grips from the first, with its understandably extreme performances, its terrifyingly swift monster attacks and its underlying melancholy. Deliberately crude, 28 Days Later is also sometimes exceptionally subtle. --Kim Newman
28 Days [2000]
To appreciate 28 Days, it's best to be thankful that director Betty Thomas hasn't forced
... more
Sandra Bullock into a remake of Clean and Sober. Instead Thomas has balanced her comedic sensibility (evident in Dr. Dolittle and Private Parts) with the seriousness of alcoholism and substance abuse, and she succeeds without compromising the gravity of the subject matter. Some critics have scoffed at the movie's breezy, formulaic portrait of 27-year-old boozer and pill-popper Gwen Cummings (Bullock), but this smooth-running star vehicle does for Bullock what Erin Brockovich did for Julia Roberts, focusing her appeal in a substantial role without taxing the limits of her talent. It's no wonder that Susannah Grant (who wrote both films) was one of the hottest new screenwriters of 1999. She writes "Hollywood Lite" without insulting anyone's intelligence. As played by Bullock, Gwen is an alcoholic in denial whose latest bender with boozer boyfriend Jasper (Dominic West) ruins the wedding of her sister (Elizabeth Perkins) and lands her in a month-long rehab program with the requisite gang of struggling drunks and junkies. Newcomer Alan Tudyk steals his scenes as a gay German rehabber who might've dropped in from a Berlin performance-art exhibit, and Steve Buscemi aptly conveys the weary commitment of a counsellor who's seen it all. Thomas has surrounded Bullock with a sharp ensemble, and the addition of singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III (as a kind of Greek chorus crooner) is sublimely inspired. Certainly no surprises here--the warring sisters will reconcile, and at least one rehabber will fail to recover--but there's ample pleasure to be found in Bullock's finely tuned performance, and in Thomas's inclusion of flashbacks and tangents that add depth and laughter in just the right dosage. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
28 Days Later ... [2002]
Anti-vivisection activists make a very bad judgment call and release an experimental
... more
monkey infected with "rage". 28 Days Later..., as the title has it, bicycle messenger Cillian Murphy wakes up from a post-traffic accident coma in a deserted London hospital, ventures out to find the city depopulated and the few remaining normal people doing everything to avoid the jittery, savage, zombie-like "infecteds" who attack on sight. Our bewildered hero has to adjust to the loss of his family and the entire world, but hooks up with several others--including a tough black woman (Naomie Harris) and a likable London cabbie (Brendan Gleeson)--on a perilous trip northwards, to seek refuge at army officer Christopher Eccleston's fortified retreat. However, even if they survive the plague, the future of humanity is still in doubt. Directed by Danny Boyle and scripted by novelist Alex Garland, this is a terrific SF/horror hybrid, evoking American and Italian zombie movies but also the very British end-of-the-world tradition of John Wyndham (Day of the Triffids) and Survivors. Shot on digital video, which gives the devastated cityscapes a closed-circuit-camera realism, this grips from the first, with its understandably extreme performances, its terrifyingly swift monster attacks and its underlying melancholy. Deliberately crude, 28 Days Later is also sometimes exceptionally subtle. --Kim Newman
28 Days [2000]
To appreciate 28 Days, it's best to be thankful that director Betty Thomas hasn't forced
... more
Sandra Bullock into a remake of Clean and Sober. Instead Thomas has balanced her comedic sensibility (evident in Dr. Dolittle and Private Parts) with the seriousness of alcoholism and substance abuse, and she succeeds without compromising the gravity of the subject matter. Some critics have scoffed at the movie's breezy, formulaic portrait of 27-year-old boozer and pill-popper Gwen Cummings (Bullock), but this smooth-running star vehicle does for Bullock what Erin Brockovich did for Julia Roberts, focusing her appeal in a substantial role without taxing the limits of her talent. It's no wonder that Susannah Grant (who wrote both films) was one of the hottest new screenwriters of 1999. She writes "Hollywood Lite" without insulting anyone's intelligence. As played by Bullock, Gwen is an alcoholic in denial whose latest bender with boozer boyfriend Jasper (Dominic West) ruins the wedding of her sister (Elizabeth Perkins) and lands her in a month-long rehab program with the requisite gang of struggling drunks and junkies. Newcomer Alan Tudyk steals his scenes as a gay German rehabber who might've dropped in from a Berlin performance-art exhibit, and Steve Buscemi aptly conveys the weary commitment of a counsellor who's seen it all. Thomas has surrounded Bullock with a sharp ensemble, and the addition of singer-songwriter Loudon Wainwright III (as a kind of Greek chorus crooner) is sublimely inspired. Certainly no surprises here--the warring sisters will reconcile, and at least one rehabber will fail to recover--but there's ample pleasure to be found in Bullock's finely tuned performance, and in Thomas's inclusion of flashbacks and tangents that add depth and laughter in just the right dosage. --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
28 Days Later
The soundtrack to Danny Boyle's end-of-the-world flick 28 Days Later is as bleak as you
... more
might expect from a film that involves deranged, blood-spewing zombies and the destruction of modern civilisation as we know it. While there are a few "names" here--in the shape of American power-pop band Grandaddy, ambient pioneer Brian Eno and dance producer Blue States--the majority of this record consists of John Murphy's original cinematic score. The music owes a little to Eno's darker musical experiments and a great deal to the strangely beautiful doomscapes practised by fiercely anti-corporate Montreal-based orchestral group Godspeed You Black Emperor (whose music actually appears in the film, but never makes it as far as the soundtrack album). Walls of bleak but elegiac feedback and avalanche drums rolls are separated by caustic drones and passages of eerie near-silence. This dark drama is somewhat relieved by stark, choir-sung interludes that add a religious, redemptive feeling and by the occasional foray into crystal-clear electronica. Danny Boyle also directed Trainspotting, but you won't be able to file this next to that film's OST in the pop section of your music shelf. However, fans of a darker, more cinematic sound will be well-served by this chilling record. --Louis Pattison
Advantages: Sandra Bullock, great plot Disadvantages: none
...by the court to spend 28 days in a rehab clinic or face doing time in prison. Begrudgingly she agrees, but once at the clinic she goes into denial that she has a problem and dismisses all the group counseling sessions, rules and rituals as rubbish. But after her initial rebellion, she starts to bond with the other residents and along with assistance of her counselor, Cornell (Steve Buscemi) she starts to accept that she has a problem. Knowing that ... ...Ladd (Wild at Heart).
28 Days is directed by Betty Thomas who had previously directed "Private Parts" and "Doctor Dolittle". In my opinion, she has delivered a good movie considering that she was dealing with the subject of Alcoholism and rehabilitation. Although this film has been panned by some critics for dealing with the subject of rehabilitation in an over easy manner, my feeling is that Thomas could easily have gone too far in making this ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: good storyline, well developed characters, good balance of serious and silly Disadvantages: none
...choice - jail time or 28 days in a rehab centre. She opts for the latter, sure that she doesn't really have a problem and that her time in the centre will be a breeze. Not long after, withdrawal symptoms kick in and Gwen starts to realise that her old life wasn't quite as great as she thought it was. Suddenly she has to deal with group counselling sessions and chanting, as well as confront some demons from her past - like her own mother's alcoholism. ... ...the other addicts surrounding her - mouthy Roshanda, sex-obsessed baseball player Eddie, and heroin addict and habitual self-harmer Andrea, who claims the soap opera "Santa Cruz" is helping her on her road to recovery. And she begins to realise that if she wants to get better, returning to her old life will be an impossibility. But can she deal with giving up everything that meant something to her before?
"28 Days" sounds like a cheese-fest, an ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Excellent Everything Disadvantages: Cant think Of one This Minute
...time in prison, or have 28 days in Rehab, she naturally opts for the rehab. For the first week, she doesn't participate in discussions, doesn't clean her dorm or make friends with any of her fellow addicts, until she realises just how all consuming her addiction is, and starts to remember how her mother died, she herself being an addict. As the days press on she starts to participate more, making friends and facing up to the fact that she has a problem. ... ...Valus
I wouldn’t say that 28 days has extremely high production Values, but its defiantly not below average, I like the way that the camera is very free flowing, it adds to the whole aspect of the madness and excitement that Gwen is feeling inside. The rehab is great and 28 Days even made its own trashy soap what other movies do that? Definatly not Titanic, but defiantly not Blair Witch Project either.
Overall An Astonishingly emotionally involving ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: fun filled story for all Disadvantages: none!
****** 28 Days ******
This film for me is a feel good film as I like to say, shows you that you can achieve something if you want it hard enough. If ive had a bad day or just feeling down in the dumps this movie always cheers me up. Sandra Bullock stars as Gwen Cummings an alcoholic who just wants to live life with out thinking of the consequences in-between. Bullock who I think is one of the best female actors plays a superb role. The acting in ... ...have seen a sequel to 28 days. As I think it would be good to know what the characters did after and how they are living their lives now. This movie is fun filled, but also has a slightly serious tone to it. Personally I think this movie sends a message that we don't need to get drunk to have a good time and enjoy ourselves, and if we try, we can achieve anything we want.
****** The Plot ******
Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) is an out-going, drinking ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: fairly entertaining Disadvantages: a bit lightweight
...case) in the form of 28 days, I figured….Sandra Bullock, Viggo Mortensen and rehab, I'll give it a go. Plot
Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) is a raging alcoholic who is also fond of the occasional hand full of pills. Along with her oh so British boyfriend (who in real life is British…but I'm sure we don't sound like that!) she lives it up in Manhattan drinking every night and doing all manner of things then forgetting them the next morning. The film ... ...which she is sentenced to 28 days…in rehab. While in rehab Gwen is to a face a number of challenges including her young roommates self harming, conflicting feelings towards boyfriend Jasper and not least her own battle with alcohol and the family issues that come with it. As she struggles to accept and overcome her problems as well as those of the misfits around her including womanising alcoholic Eddie (Viggo Mortensen) she also realises her own ...
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Actor(s): Sandra Bullock, Dominic West, Viggo Mortensen, Elizabeth Perkins, Steve Buscemi, Azura Skye, Diane Ladd, Margo Martindale
Director(s): Betty Thomas
Genre: Drama
Classification: 15 years and over
Production Year: 2000
Running Time: 1 hour 49 minutes
Video Category: Feature Film
Plot: This is the story of a successful New York writer, Gwen Cummings, and her struggle with alcohol abuse. After one particular drunken outburst at her sisters wedding, she is arrested for drunk driving and sent to spend 28 days in rehabilitation. Gwen refuses to conform to the rules, but with time and patience shown to her by her counsellor and other patients, she manages to emerge and begin a new life.
Release details
DVD Region: Region 2 (Europe)
Studio(s): UCA; UNIVERSAL MUSIC OPERATIONS
Release date: 12/04/2004
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: C 822 420 6
Barcode: 5050582242065
DVD Description
This is the story of a successful New York writer, Gwen Cummings, and her struggle with alcohol abuse. After one particular drunken outburst at her sisters wedding, she is arrested for drunk driving and sent to spend 28 days in rehabilitation. Gwen refuses to conform to the rules, but with time and patience shown to her by her counsellor and other patients, she manages to emerge and begin a new life.