28 Days

Sandra Bullock gives an outstanding performance in this story about alcohol and drug rehabilitation. Unfortunately, the presentation of the story was lacking and it detracted from the film's overall effect. Director Betty Thomas and writer Suzannah Grant (who scored with the screenplay of "Erin Brockovich") can't seem to decide whether they want the film to be a zany comedy or a serious drama. They seem to have been aiming for a bittersweet comedy, but they missed the mark. They trivialized the good dramatic elements of the story with numerous inane scenes, many of which were more ridiculous than funny. The film also suffers from an excess of clichés, some overemphasized to the point of being stupid.. It is difficult to take much of the story seriously with all the foolishness that is continually erupting. The result of this miscalculation was that the film was hammered at the box office, with the gross ticket sales failing even to match production costs. That's a pity because a lot of people missed an excellent dramatic performance.

Sandra Bullock was a ray of sunshine that burst forth from this otherwise jumbled mess. Sandra simply out-acted and outclassed the entire cast and did a terrific job despite the `nutty institution' approach. This is something of a departure from her accustomed romantic comedy roles. She had a chance to flex her dramatic acting muscles here, portraying a very confused and distraught character. She went from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows and handled the full range of emotions beautifully. It was one of the most complete dramatic performances I have seen from her to date.

I rated this film a 6/10 on the strength of Bullock's portrayal. Without her, it would have been about a 3/10. If the topic had been treated more seriously, with sensitivity to the nuances of drug rehabilitation rather than having a good laugh at their expense, it would have been far more powerful and effective.