Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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77 of 82 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jack Lemmon's sobering portrait of an alcoholic, July 2, 2001
I was never really interested in drinking alcohol and after catching "Days of Wine and Roses" on late night television I knew I was never going to drink, never get drunk, and never end up like the character of Joe Clay, played by the late Jack Lemmon. Joe is in public relations and cannot have a good time unless he is drinking. He meets up with Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick), and informed she does not drink but loves chocolate, he orders her a Brandy Alexander. Joe and Kirsten marry, although her father Ellis Arnesen (Charles Bickford), is not sure he approves. Joe's alcoholism finally costs him his job and by then Kirsten is boozing just as much. In one of the most ghastly scenes in movie history, Joe destroys the Arnesen greenhouse, looking for the bottles of booze he has buried with one of the plants. With the help of A.A. Counselor Jim Hungerford (Jack Klugman), Joe finally starts to get his life together. But Kirsten cannot do the same, even for the sake of their daughter Debbie.With Lemmon's death a lot of his old movies are suddenly popping up on cable television. I watched "Days of Wine and Roses" again last night and it is every bit as powerful and as horrific as I remember. No other film has made the life of an alcoholic look so hopeless, not "Leaving Last Vegas" and certainly not "Lost Weekend." Lemmon and Remick were both nominated for Oscars for their performances, while Henry Mancini's title song won the Academy Award. Charles Bickford repeated the role he originated in the "Playhouse 90" version aired in 1958, which was directed by James Frankenheimer. Blake Edwards directed this 1962 movie because the studio told Frankenheimer he could not direct a comedy like this film. Both scripts were written by J. P. Miller. Bottom line: Nobody who ever watches this movie will ever forget it.
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28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hit me again, please. It's magic time ..., April 1, 2006
Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) is an up-and-coming Public Relations agent in the era of the three-martini lunch and "drinks with the boys" following the workday. While providing a client with, literally, a boatload of girls, Joe meets receptionist Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick), a good girl from a stable country upbringing.
Joe introduces Kirsten to alcohol in the form of a Brandy Alexander, and before long the two fall in love and marry. Joe provides a good living for his wife and new baby daughter, but becomes depressed from the quiet family life and a baby that takes up all of his wife's attention. In a truly gut-wrenching scene, Joe berates and completely degrades Kirsten for not being any fun anymore, throwing a temper tantrum while drunk and demanding that she stop nursing her own baby (mammary envy) because its going to ruin her shape. A very poignant and heart braking scene.
Kirsten is deeply in love with Joe, and concedes to his demands to "loosen up a little and be fun again", which means having a couple of drinks with him. It isn't long before Kirsten is drinking all the time, and very common of women in the early sixties, Kirsten starts smoking (probably to help lose weight, though this isn't mentioned beyond Joe's comment about her shape).
Joe's career slides as his drinking increases, causing him to be late for work and upsetting his clients. His company assigns him to a lower-level client in far away Houston. While Joe tries to do his job there, Kirsten sets their apartment on fire from drinking and smoking. Joe is fired, and not long afterward Joe has an epiphany. He is a bum, and his wife is a bum, and they need to stop drinking.
Kirsten's father takes the struggling couple into his home where he runs a nursery. After a couple of months sober, Joe and Kirsten fall off the wagon together in a riotous binge in their room. A second very poignant incident follows where Joe trashes his father-in-law's nursery looking for the bottle he hid. This scene may seem overdone at first, but just tune into one episode of 'Cops' and you will see how well Jack Lemmon played this scene.
This time, Joe winds out in the hospital going through some overblown withdrawal symptoms, and it is here he meets Jim Hungerford (Jack Klugman) from Alcoholics Anonymous. Once in AA, Joe tries to fight his disease, while Kirsten remains in absolute denial of being an alcoholic. You must remember that this movie was made in 1962, and there was quite a stigma attached to being an alcoholic, the 60's version of a scarlet letter.
There is no happily-ever-after in this movie. Though made in 1962, it is still the best of the 'alcoholic' movies ever made. 'Leaving Las Vegas' certainly portrayed a down-and-out alcoholic, but the character Ben from that modern portrayal wanted to die. 'Days Of Wine And Roses' is the story of two people's struggle against alcoholism, not their submission to it.
There is nothing outdated about this movie except the fashion; times change, behaviors don't. Kirsten's confession that she "just wants things to look prettier than they are" rings so true to addiction in any form or from any era. This movie is about people and the disease, not the time-period, so it stands up to any of the modern day addiction stories.
'Days Of Wine And Roses' is a true classic, a timeless piece that is both sad and entertaining. Take a quick note of the fact that in Joe and Kirsten's first apartment, the bar was right outside the baby's room. I thought that was a bit ironic.
If you love addiction movies, modern pieces like 'Leaving Las Vegas', 'Requiem For A Dream', 'Spun', or 'Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas', you will love 'Days Of Wine And Roses'. Enjoy!
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The greenhouse effect, July 2, 2001
The late Jack Lemmon is likely to be remembered by most moviegoers for his memorable comic presence in classics like "Some Like It Hot" and the "Odd Couple", but anyone who ever doubted his capacity for dramatic acting should screen "Days Of Wine And Roses". This shattering 1962 Blake Edwards drama was shockingly realistic for its time (apparently prompting opening-week "walkouts" by many Lemmon fans expecting another "funny" role). The film still packs quite a wallop in its depiction of an alcoholic couple and thier hellish descent. Lee Remick, forever underrated, (undoubtedly due to her luminous beauty) delivers another of her brainy, mature performances. Everyone mentions the "greenhouse scene", but I feel the most intense moment comes in the "padded room" scene, with a sweating, screaming, strait-jacketed Lemmon writhing in "withdrawal". Call it "sense memory", "method" or whatever, but to this day it remains one of the the most "naked" scenes of an actor totally "in the moment" ever captured on film. A great American film, and a classic Henry Mancini score to boot.
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