Main Cast: Sandra Bullock, Viggo Mortensen, Dominic West, Diane Ladd, Elizabeth Perkins, Steve Buscemi
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 103 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
In this romantic comedy, a journalist who's become too much the life of the party finds a new lease on life in a drug and alcohol treatment center. New York newspaper columnist Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) has a fondness for liquor, a boyfriend (Dominic West) with a similar taste for the bottle, and a party girl image that camouflages plenty of emotional baggage. At the wedding of her sister (Elizabeth Perkins), Gwen's pursuit of a good time goes a bit too far when she topples the wedding cake and steals the bridal party's limousine. The result is a court-ordered, 28-day stay in a rehabilitation facility for drug and alcohol abusers. Gwen's failure to get with the program causes her to butt heads with the clinic's director (Steve Buscemi), but her attitude begins to change when she meets Eddie Boone (Viggo Mortensen), a baseball player trying to deal with his substance abuse problems. Diane Ladd, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Azura Skye play Gwen's fellow rehab inmates, and legendary roots rock band NRBQ performs at the wedding reception. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Rick Butler - Art Director, Robert Guerra - Art Director, Bo Johnson - Art Director, Francine Maisler - Casting, Celia Costas - Co-producer, Ellen Lutter - Costume Designer, Richard Graves - First Assistant Director, Betty Thomas - Director, Peter Teschner - Editor, Richard Gibbs - Composer (Music Score), Randall Poster - Musical Direction/Supervision, Marcia Hinds-Johnson - Production Designer, Declan Quinn - Cinematographer, Jenno Topping - Producer, Geoffrey S. Grimsman - Set Designer, C. Scott Baker - Set Designer, Bill King - Set Designer, Tod A. Maitland - Sound/Sound Designer, Susannah Grant - Screenwriter, Michael J. Benavente - Supervising Sound Editor, Debra Schutt - Set Decorator
After getting into a car accident while drunk on the day of her sister's wedding, Gwen Cummings is given a choice between jail or 28 days in a rehab center. She chooses rehab, but is extremely resistant to taking part in any of the treatment programs they have to offer, refusing to admit that she is an alcoholic. After getting to know some of the other patients, Gwen gradually begins to re-examine her life and see that she does, in fact, have a serious problem. She befriends Andrea, a 17-year-old recovering heroin addict, who occasionally harms herself. All of the other patients help her see herself in a different light, while she tries to get sober and come to terms with her alcoholism. The path to recovery will not be easy, and success will not be guaranteed or even likely, but she is now willing to give it a try.
Cast
Sandra Bullock as Gwen Cummings: the film's protagonist. A newspaper columnist with drug and alcohol problems
Azura Skye as Andrea Delaney: A 17-year-old heroin addict.
Dominic West as Jasper: Gwen's boyfriend. An alcoholic as well, he considers Gwen's recovery a joke.
Viggo Mortensen as Eddie Boone: One of the other patients in rehab, a famous baseball player. Addicted to alcohol, drugs, and sex.
Elizabeth Perkins as Lily Cummings: Gwen's older sister who gets married at the beginning of the film.
Alan Tudyk as Gerhardt: One of the other patients in rehab, highly emotional and of German origin.
Reni Santoni as Daniel: One of the other patients in rehab, a former doctor.
Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Roshanda: One of the other patients in rehab, mother of two young children.
Diane Ladd as Bobbie Jean: One of the other patients in rehab, an elderly lady.
