It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick, Charles Bickford, and Jack Klugman star in "Days of Wine and Roses" from 1962.Joe Clay (Lemmon) is a successful public relations man who drinks a great deal as part of his job. When he meets and falls for Kirsten Arnasen, he introduces her to the joys of alcohol.They marry but descend into an alcoholic stupor, with attempts at sobriety failing. This is a devastating film. Kirsten wasn't a drinker when Joe meets her, and unbeknownst to her, had the genetic predisposition to alcohol. To see what happens to her, to both of them, is horrible. The actors are superb.One unforgettable scene takes place in a greenhouse where Joe has hidden a bottle and can't find it.The most difficult part of this film is the end. Someone did a scene from this in my acting class (actually the last scene) and the actor kept referring to the female character as Curse. My acting teacher said, "Actually it's "Keerce" though a Curse she may be."A troubling film that won't leave you long after it's over. Addiction of any kind is a horrible and destructive thing.

Most of us think of Blake Edwards as a director of comedies. After all, his "Pink Panther" series provided us with some of the funniest movies ever made, and his Dudley Moore comedies ("Micki And Maude," and particularly "10") are classics too. But Edwards was also capable of churning out more serious fare. The best of these films was a hit in 1962, but has long since been forgotten."Days Of Wine And Roses" begins innocently enough, as young public relations director Joe Clay goes on a first date with Kirsten Arnesen. While Kirsten is young and innocent, Joe makes his living in post-war corporate America. When my dad first began his sales career, during this same time period, his best friend warned him he had joined a "drinking fraternity." Sure enough, Joe introduces Kirsten to social drinking, they have lots of fun, get married, and have a daughter.As the Clay's casual drinking descends into a life of full-blown alcoholic despair, both Jack Lemmon (as Joe) and Lee Remick (as Kirsten) turn in the best performances of their careers. Joe eventually loses his top-notch sales position, then bounces around from job to job, before reluctantly going to work in his father-in-law's landscaping business. Joe and Kirsten manage sobriety for a while, but the lure of readily-available alcohol is simply too strong. Joe eventually gets sober through the then fledgling organization Alcoholics Anonymous, while Kirsten (a teetotaler at the film's outset) does not.Simply put, this is a film about alcoholism. Not the "closet" alcoholism portrayed by Ray Milland in "The Lost Weekend," nor the "death wish" alcoholism of Nicholas Cage in "Leaving Las Vegas." No, this is a warning-shot about the fine line between social drinking and disease. This may not sound like entertainment, per se; but consider it a very well-acted and well-written monition. While certain time-and-place aspects of "Days Of Wine And Roses" are dated, its message carries as much heft today as it did over a half-century ago.Lemmon should have won a Best Actor Oscar, if for no other reason than his scene of futile anguish when he breaks into his father-in-law's greenhouse one night for a hidden bottle of alcohol. The personal torment he conveys here is a heartbreaking plea for help – to no one in particular, save for himself and his creator. As a side note, Gregory Peck won that year's Best Actor Oscar for "To Kill A Mockingbird." It was one of those "congratulatory" Oscars, where the academy honors a longtime great, more for his or her body of work than the specific performance in question. Ironically, Lemmon himself would win such an Oscar eleven years later for the less-impressive "Save The Tiger." Screenwriter J.P. Miller adapted "Days Of Wine And Roses" from his own Playhouse 90 teleplay of 1958. Miller added some new material, Jack Lemmon in the title role, and voila! A classic was born.One of the enduring ramifications of this picture was the explosion in popularity of Alcoholics Anonymous. Founded in 1935, AA was still in its germinating state when Blake Edwards released "Days Of Wine And Roses." The timing couldn't have been better. The end of prohibition in 1933, coupled with the return of the often hard-drinking WWII soldiers in 1945, and a new economic and cultural prosperity in America in the 1950s, resulted in an outbreak of alcoholism never before witnessed. Many Americans searched for a cure, yet coveted anonymity due to the social norms of the day. Because of its relevance, and again because of Jack Lemmon's masterful acting accomplishment, I believe "Days Of Wine And Roses" should have won the Best Picture Oscar for 1962 – rather than David Lean's beautiful, yet long and somewhat draggy, "Lawrence Of Arabia." As our local newscasts never tire of reminding us, alcoholism (and drunk driving, in particular) is still a problem over 50 years after the release of "Days Of Wine And Roses." Even if you've seen it before, it certainly deserves another look. And that's why it's this month's Buried Treasure.

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.

The 1960's saw a change in American cinema. Producers seemed to be moving away from the conventional approach of ham-fisted delivery and super fast-talking, and going for something altogether more realistic. The Hays Code was losing power with the influx of foreign films that weren't bound by any strict ruling, and audiences were obviously striving for something more challenging and confrontational. Blake Edward's Days of Wine and Roses, a powerful portrayal of a marriage crumbling beneath alcoholism, is a clear example of this. Alcoholism had been depicted before of course, but never in such a downright distressing manner. Billy Wilder's The Lost Weekend followed writer Don Birnam (played by Ray Milland) as alcohol destroyed his very soul. But that was back in 1945, when the Hays Code was at the height of its power, so it would always be restrained. It is undoubtedly an excellent film, but Days of Wine and Roses gets under the skin of the 'disease', and although it is ultimately a poorer film in comparison to The Lost Weekend, it is certainly more profound and powerful.Public relations man Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon) meets and falls in love with teetotal secretary Kirsten (Lee Remick), and after a whirlwind romance, the couple quickly marry. Skip forward a year, and Joe has turned into a full-blown alcoholic, frequently returning home late from work and behaving erratically. When his drinking starts to effect his job, Joe is demoted, causing a strain on home life. The couple slump into addiction, sharing the joys and struggles of succumbing entirely to the bottle. After Joe loses his job, they quit drinking, identifying it as the reason their marriage is struggling and potentially losing custody of their daughter. But unbeknownst to them, they are locked in a three-way marriage, and a drink is always around the corner.Based on screenwriter J.P. Miller's own teleplay, Days of Wine and Roses is shot in stark yet beautiful black-and-white, pulling no punches and avoiding romantic sentimentality. Jack Lemmon is superb as Joe, a man who confronts his problem yet also sees it as the glue that binds his marriage together. It is the only thing they can share equal joy with, yet for their marriage to work, they simply must get sober. But Kirsten (an equally superb performance from Remick) refuses to let go, lost in her addiction so much she is willing to lose her husband and daughter to it. The film is depressing yet emotional, complex yet simple, clinically done by Edwards, who engages with unfussy and suitably minimalistic direction. Although it does to get a little bit too stagey sometimes, it is a joy to behold, leaving you an ironically sober feeling.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com