C, the movie lover in my office with whom I often share a drink, recommended this movie to me. Given the two facts I just told you about him, you can imagine my surprise when he recommended it by saying, "it'll make you want to quit drinking."I haven't quit drinking, but having now seen the movie, I can see why he thought I might. This movie is a tour-de-force exploration of the effects that alcohol can have on a person.
Jack Lemmon plays Joe. Joe meets Kirsten, played by the lovely Lee Remick. Jack is a hard-drinking PR man. Kirsten is the prim and proper assistant of one of Jack's clients. Kirsten doesn't drink, she eats chocolate -- until the day she tries a brandy Alexander.
Then they drink together. They have fun. They get married. They drink more. It becomes a problem, and things fall apart. They never stop loving each other, but they stop being functional people. They try, with varying levels of success, to clean up their lives, but it's clear that it can never be the way it was. All the while, you see their marriage disintegrating and see the people around them brought down by their alcoholism. It's dark.
Bottom line: a heartbreaking peek into what could have been such a normal life.
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