Days of Wine and Roses

Alcoholism: a habit that is frowned upon by many and is something nobody wants to admit they're suffering from. For Hollywood standards, it's considered award bait.

Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick) is a proclaimed non-drinker. That is, until she meets Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon). They marry and have a child, but the only thing keeping their marriage together is their love of alcohol.

There's one scene in Days of Wine and Roses that had me floored. Joe, returning from a night of drinking, enters his infant daughter's room to stop her crying. Looking at her, he realizes he's looking at innocence, soon noticing the loss of his own. That's heartbreaking stuff there.

This had to be nteresting for both Lemmon and director Blake Edwards. Both of them are getting off of high-profile lighthearted romantic movies (Lemmon in The Apartment, Edwards Breakfat at Tiffany's), and here they are doing an outstanding but bleak movie about alcoholism. Not bad.

My Rating: *****