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Originally Posted by Rottingaway  The Lost Weekend(1945) The movie that risked the entire career of Ray Milland. He put up his lively hood career on a part that at the time shunned by most in the Hollywood elite circles, all the big names you could think must have thought he was truly mad to take on a part like this but he did and it was worth it. As a viewer and a fan of his work what he did with his role as chronic alcoholic Don Birnam during a mere four day period of this desperate man's life was astounding to the very least. Milland truly was and disappeared into Birnam only a truly great awe inspiring actor and more importantly man can do that. You feel and felt this man's desperation, his pain, and through his dialogues with everyone you got to really know him onscreen yet it felt you knew him personally. The supporting cast are no slouches here either. Even Billy Wilder was more on his A game than ever and honestly in my opinion never came this close again even though he was a brilliant director from the beginning until the end. The "happy ending" is the only bright spot I understand why they did this from all angles, if they had gone with a more darker ending all involved would have perished career wise but its Millands Birnam disturbing journey that matters most here. He was in Hell and if we all were to have written it in a real way we would know he was only headed towards death. Its not a PERFECT movie there is no such thing but given the subject matter I really do believe its a near flawless movie about alcoholism and the demons he...(maybe not alcoholism exclusively) but all of us carry within us. Even though Milland had many roles countless some forgettable some good it may seem he, will never be forgotten ever because of this movie.
Oh if this review is a bit muddled and unnecessarily long I have been drinking for the last hour or so...simple put I can relate to this character like not many others ever before and its an unforgettable journey that you should experience at least once in your life time. |
This has been on my 'to-watch' pile for ages, since the Masters of Cinema version came out, I bought the Steelbook. I've been going through some Golden Hollywood films lately so while I'm on a roll I might bump this up the pile to the top.