Best movies about alcoholism

I always liked Come Back, Little Sheba

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

"Barfly" with Ms. Dunaway

The Morning After

So that's where they lifted the whole plot of Season 1 of The Flight Attendant.

"Leaving Las Vegas"

"Opening Night" starring Gena Rowlands.

Notorious

I know how to lay a buffet

Young Adult

"The Good House" which was just released, staring Sigourney Weaver.

Mommie Dearest

When a Man Loves a Woman

I'll Cry Tomorrow and Smash Up: The Story of a Woman.

I CANNOT BELIEVE no one remembers Linda Blair's bravura turn in this 1970s masterpiece.

alcoholism plus pills: Valley of the Dolls

Sideways. Fabulous movie and Virginia Madsen is peak beauty. I’ve watched this film a gazillion times.

For a while, Gena Rowland had a monopoly in the drunk parts.

Dick Van Dyke gave a powerful performance in the TV movie The Morning After. He was truly amazing. The was an ABC TV MOVIE OF THE WEEK btw. God I loved them as a kid.

During my periods of heavy drinking, I've watched Leaving Las Vegas a couple times. It was scary when I started relating to it.

So I stopped watching it but kept drinking.

This last time I decided to stop I watched a few things to help me along my way (Leaving Las Vegas was not one of them, because I was already in the throes of utter despair). "30 Days" is a little bit of a fluff piece but had enough of real life and recovery attempts/relapses that made it a good re-watch last October.

[quote] When a Man Loves a Woman

No offense, but I hated that movie. What a waste of Andy Garcia during his beautiful period. It seemed more like a Lifetime movie than something you'd see in a theater.

A TVM but still: Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice starring Carol Burnett.

Ironweed.

A Star Is Born

Sending you well wishes and congratulations r21!

Thanks, r26!! :-)

Drunks (1995).

You can do it a day at a time, R21. I did, and I've been clean and sober since 1981.

OTOH, I'm old, so there's that.

Thanks, r29. I'm doing really well and have had zero cravings. Honestly. I think I finally had just "drank my fill" this last time. I also felt really ill and am now dealing with some health issues as a result. It's not the health issues that scared me straight, because I already knew I was probably sick from how much I was drinking. I just decided I was tired of the whole thing and over it. It wasn't fixing a damn thing and was just making things worse for me. I also didn't want my family to have to deal with finding me dead in a pool of my own vomit/waste/etc.

Now I think of wine as a dead person I used to know: we had some good times until we didn't, and ultimately I knew this person would end up killing me in the end. So done, finit.

But watching some of these movies was helpful to me in putting the final nail in the coffin. Hopefully I quit soon enough to not have to worry about my coffin anytime soon. Test results of today's echocardiogram are forthcoming.

Do you smoke?

Where or where have you gone, Friday Afternoon Drinky-Poos?

Nope, not a smoker and never have been.

ok. when you see AA meetings in movies some people are always smoking and I wonder isn't that just another addiction.

Clean and Sober

Beerfest

Well done R30! X

Barfly. Jeezus, Faye Dunaway is sure in a lot of boozy roles. Here she is trying to kick Alice Kriger right in the pussy bone.

Under the Influence with Andy Griffith (and Keanu Reeves)

Follow the Footsteps (Ed Asner, Gary Coleman)

A Sensitive, Passionate Man (David Jannsrn, Angie Dickinson)

My Name is Bill W. ((James Wood, James Garner)

Flight, Denzel Washington

Bette Davis

28 Days

Sandra Bullock, Steve Buscemi

The Verdict has Paul Newman as an alcoholic lawyer. I thought it was a great movie.

The Lost Weekend is a classic movie about an alcoholic on a bender. Ray Milland won an Oscar for his performance.

Girl on a Train and The Spectacular Now are some other choices.

Sorry yes...28 days, not 30 days. Duh, brain is still recovering.

The Shining.

Arthur.

To Leslie

"Requiem for a Dream"

*

Dumbo

Best song...

Leaving Las Vegas.

Marcia alcoholism The Bradys. So we’ll written and performed.

The Morning After is one of the handful of films Sidney Lumet made outside New York. And a terrific film.

"YOU KILLED A MAN".

Dangerous

Smashed is a 2012 American drama film directed by James Ponsoldt, written by Ponsoldt and Susan Burke, and starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul. Winstead and Paul play a married couple, Kate and Charlie Hannah, both alcoholics. After a series of embarrassing incidents caused by her drinking habit, Kate decides to get sober with the help of a coworker and a sponsor from Alcoholics Anonymous.

Thanks, r56. Any idea where to watch it? I have Prime Video, and as usual, I'd have to pay to rent it. I'm not sure any movies are included on Prime anymore without paying for them...

Try this.

You Kill Me - Sir Ben Kingsley plays the alcoholic hitman in a family holding the snowplow contract for Buffalo, New York (not really a spoiler, this is revealed in the opening). His family sends him out to a family friend (Bill Pullman) in San Francisco to dry out while they deal with competition (Dennis Farina) in Buffalo. It's black humor, but it's funny. The writer/director was invited to an AA meeting (possibly as a hint) and wanted to play with the confidentiality of the meetings.

Arthur

Leaving Las Vegas.

The Country Girl

Honey Boy

"A Cry For Love" TV movie starting Susan Blakely as a pill-popping speed freak single mom who falls for hairy alcoholic Powers Boothe. Can love win out in the end over their terrible addictions?

R63, you should have written the TV guide program descriptions. I, as a young gayling, would have tuned-in just to see a "hairy alcoholic"!

"The Sound of Music"

My parents' home videos from my childhood.

I want to second Come Back Little Sheba. It is B&W and may be too old time for many DLers but it has great performances by Burt Lancaster and Shirley Booth. She is heartbreaking as the suffering loyal wife of alcoholic Lancaster.

The only reason to watch 28 days is Viggo Mortensen.

Under the Volcano, w/ Albert Finney

Shoot the Moon, w/ Albert Finney and Diane Keaton

Finney was another actor like Gena Rowlands who was superb in boozy roles.

Yes--R69. Under the Volcano is a perfect depiction of alcoholism. And now you've got me wanting to watch Shoot the Moon,

Clean and Sober

R69 Albert Finney played excellent drunks, but I don't think his character in Shoot the Moon was a lush.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

"Bad Santa". No, really! It's not just a hilarious dark comedy, the main character is a serious alcoholic and it affects everything about his life and the choices he makes.

It really is a great dark comedy, with terrific performances by Billy Bob Thornton and Tony Cox in the leading roles, and the darkness of hopeless alcoholism infusing all the humor.

"A Star Is Born"

Every version.

My favorite single moment from any version, is when Bradley Cooper pisses himself onstage at the Grammy awards. Mediocre version otherwise, but that scene worked!

Nil by Mouth - Ray Winstone is an absolute monster in this.

Your family's old Christmas home movies, OP?

Cheese 🧀 is binding!!

R20, I came here to tout that Dick Van Dyke movie, too! I remember being amazed at his performance. Isn’t there a scene where he’s walking on the beach (maybe he ends up passing out under a pier) and the soundtrack is The Beatles’ “Yesterday.” It was so sad to me, an 11 year-old-kid.

Not a movie, but Season 2 of Desperate Housewives. Bree's storyline is incredible. Watching the build up, the cover up, and the consequences is incredible. Marcia Cross is an amazing actress.

To Leslie (2022)

R74 great call. Bad Santa is so under appreciated. One of the meanest, funniest, drunkest and tragic Xmas movies of all time.

[quote] Best movies about alcoholism

OP Alcoholism is a disease and a mental illness. There's nothing "good" or "best" about that.

The Happy Ending (1969)

Fun fact: Cher was considered for Jane Fondas' role in The Morning After.

I wonder how that would have turned out?

Pretty funny, I imagine.

R83 - So I guess "Schindler's List" sucked because the Holocaust sucked. Or "The Seventh Seal" was bad because the plague was bad.

Just run this here TikTok on a constant loop.

Passion Fish

The Verdict, which has a DL thread right now.

[quote] So I guess "Schindler's List" sucked because the Holocaust sucked. Or "The Seventh Seal" was bad because the plague was bad.

R87 "The Seventh Seal" wasn't as emotional as "Schindler's List".

"Schindler's List" had a syrupy score with lots of violins; I don't remember any orchestral sounds in "The Seventh Seal".

The Lost Weekend

The Thin Man

The ring doorbell video of every DL subscriber

Affliction with Nick Nolte.

I've always liked "Only When I Laugh" with Marsha Mason and DL fave (?) Kristy McNichol.

Confess Fletch. Seeing a bloated alcoholic Jon Hamm in probably one of his last leading roles in movies.

Colossal with Anne Hathaway. Also Rachel Getting Married with Anne Hathaway

Not a movie but the sobering up arc of andy sipowicz in NYPD Blues was pretty great. The whole series was basically about his moral redemption. Not sure that was planned but that’s the what it turned into.

"Arthur" and "Arthur Two: On My Rocksh" ! They were both fabuloush! Dudley Moore was jush fabuloush! I loved him playing "Arhthur". He shaid to me - you know what he shaid ? He shaid, Lizha, you jush have to win another Oshcar for your performansh ! He did - he really shaid that! He wash fabuloush. "

[quote]Colossal with Anne Hathaway.

I forgot about this one. It's very weird and its own sort of wonderful.

[Quote]Fun fact: Cher was considered for Jane Fondas' role in The Morning After.

[Quote] I wonder how that would have turned out?

It would have been a camp classic!

“28 Days” isn’t especially profound, but I’ve heard a lot of people say it inspired them / helped them to get sober.

The first time I saw it, I wasn’t really sure if it intended to be sincere or if it was poking fun at the rehab industry.

Now I think it’s a little of both, but it’s mostly sincere.

This is the film that helped me wake up and get off the sauce!

My Name is Bill W. (1989) with James Garner and James Wood who took home the Emmy for his portrayal of AA founder Bill Wilson.

It's available free on Internet Archive.

Affliction

Once Were Warriors

The Shining

[quote] Best movies about alcoholism

OP, I'm looking forward to your next thread 'Best movies about disease'.

Another downvote here for the Lifetime-esque "When a Man Loves a Woman." I just could not take seriously the glowing, healthy, perky Meg Ryan as a woman who drinks from 4 am til midnight every day. The real alcoholics I know do not look remotely that good. Oh, and gorgeous Andy Garcia as a devoted airline pilot husband who doesn't have women stashed in every citiy he flies through, mmmkay.

“The Days of Wine and Roses” and “I’ll Cry Tomorrow” are the finest films.

In the 1980s, “Clean and Sober” was the best.

AA/ NA are losing credibility and respect by the masses . Thank goodness there are many alternatives and far more self affirming.

R96, AnnE Hathaway was excellent in Rachel Getting Married. I found the film loose and relaxed in presentation but tense and quite sad in tone. One of my favorite films about addiction and what it has wrought in the past, both on the addict and those close at hand.

Horrific

Tres Lounge

[quote]r34 when you see AA meetings in movies some people are always smoking and I wonder isn't that just another addiction.

Nicotine addiction doesn’t usually make you blackout, trash your office, crash your car, spontaneously abort, and at last come to again in a Peoria motel… with your father on top of you!

R97 The episodes with Peter Boyle as Andy’s sponsor are wonderful and heartbreaking.

I always liked the movie “Bounce”:

DRINK UP, BITCHES! IT'S ME! YOUR GIRL, SARAH T!