David Janssen life was that of a very sad Hollywood star. Although very successful and incredibly talented, he also had a major problem with alcohol that most likely led to his death...at only 48, though he looked far, far older (I would have guessed he looked about 60 in this movie). Ironically, here just three years before his death, Janssen stars as a man struggling with alcoholism! Essentially, he's playing, at least in part, himself...which is tremendously sad.
The story is about the Delaney Family. Michael (David Janssen) works as an aerospace engineer--not a particularly good industry during the late 70s. After all, there were a lot of cutbacks in the space program following the end of the Apollo missions. Not surprisingly, he's laid off from his very high paying job but instead of telling his family he pretends to be going to work each day. Eventually his wife finds out and the secret is out. But instead of pushing him to finally looking for work he increasingly sits around drinking. And the more he drinks the more violent, nasty and unpredictable he becomes. The film follows his progression into alcoholism as well as it's devastating impact on the family. In particular, it focuses on the wife (Angie Dickinson) as she vacillates between enabling him and just wanting to get out and protect herself and the children. This was, incidentally, one of her best acting performances.
I appreciate how this film is an unflinching view of alcoholism. It doesn't paint a magical picture of redemption like you see in "The Lost Weekend" and many other films about addiction. Instead, it's just awful and stays awful--making it a very tough film to watch but also making it realistic and a public service. It also shows what life was like when treatment facilities were practically nonexistent and AA and counseling was about your only option...an option Michael refuses to take seriously. Well worth seeing despite its awfulness. Also a great film to show to someone who really needs to see what alcoholism really looks like. It certainly pulls no punches.
By the way, another similar sort of film I heartily recommend is "Days of Wine and Roses"--either the original television teleplay or the more famous 1960s movie with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick. Very unpleasant as well...but very truthful and blunt in its depiction of addiction.
