Days of Wine and Roses (1963)

The greatest movie ever!

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Unique roles for Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick, usually they act in comedies but this is a solid drama. Together with Charles Bickford, they give three high-acting performances. Especially Lee Remick, she is unrecognizable as a perpetual drunkard. Simple, convincing, credible, realistic, like in real life. But again, watch out, because it's very sad, specially the ending...

Blake Edwards' "Days of Wine and Roses (1962)" is a near perfect film in my opinion. Showing the true horrors and depth of alcoholism in an unapologetically dark manner, Edwards somehow manages to still find the beauty in his characters and their surroundings and does so in such an enchanting way.Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick are absolutely exceptional in their roles - they are majestic through the beginning of their journey and, even amidst their darkest periods, still manage to let their human qualities shine through. Together, they steal the show and elevate this film to something more profound than one might understand. Also excellent in supporting roles are Charles Bickford and Jack Klugman.The black and white cinematography is among some of the best I can recall, evoking a dreamy landscape that heightens the characters dreams, ambitions and dire need of escapism. The musical score by Henry Mancini (which justly won the Academy Award for Best Music) is both haunting and beautiful, perfectly capturing the film's tone.For this film's entire runtime, I was absolutely spellbound by these characters and their story. They evolve so humanly and their tragedy becomes such a part of you - perhaps not since Wilder's "The Lost Weekend (1945)" and Mike Nichols' "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)" has a film about alcoholism affected me so deeply. And the depressing ending (which has become so elusive in movies nowadays) ties the story together in the most natural and seemingly fitting way. Masterpiece.

We know what happens to alcoholics if they relapse and start drinking... But this movie portrays everything so starkly, it is awful to watch.Joe (Jack Lemmon) is in public relations. He meets the beautiful Kirsten (Lee Remick) who is the secretary of one of Joe's clients. He tries to get a date, but she ignores him. He tries again, and again. Eventually she goes out with him, they marry, they have a child.But he has got her drinking. Seriously. When she sets the apartment on fire, they both realise they need to do something about it. They go and stay with her father who runs a plant nursery. Everything seems to be going right, until Joe smuggles in bottles to celebrate(!) their cure. Kirsten's father Ennis (Charles Bickford) is great too. I was half expecting him to say he was a recovered alcoholic, but no, he is just a quiet and loving dad.It would be hopeless filming drunken actors, but how does an actor act drunk? Lemmon does, brilliantly. Remick too, but not as often.The best scenes are at the beginning where Joe is talking to Kirsten. She doesn't say "Get lost, mister", doesn't need to, the look says it all, and she walks away. Such subtlety seems to have disappeared from modern American films. Pity, it is so meaningful.One slight negative is that the story has a six or seven year span, but both Joe and Kirsten look exactly the same from start to finish. Could the director got them to alter the hairstyles maybe?

Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) is the new public relations man and drinking is just part of the job. He doesn't make a good first impression with secretary Kirsten Arnesen (Lee Remick). He eventually breaks her down and gets her to drinking. They marry and have a daughter named Debbie. Their jobs and their lives suffer under the addiction. After several attempts, he finally get better with Alcoholics Anonymous and Jim Hungerford (Jack Klugman) as his sponsor.My biggest problem with this movie is that I can't imagine why Kirsten relents and goes with Joe. It kind of sticks out and makes no sense. I'm not necessarily saying Lee Remick is too pretty for Jack Lemmon. She really hates him at the beginning and he doesn't do anything special to win her over. I guess this is more of a given in the story rather than something to be dissected. Alcoholism has been done before. This has some interesting moments but I'm not sure it's special or anything original. The acting is good but I expect nothing less from Lemmon.