Portraying any kind of addiction or mental health issue in the movies is a delicate situation that should always be approached thoughtfully. A well-crafted portrayal is often considered Oscar bait, but much more than that, it could give some perspective to friends and family members of people struggling to understand, or even make someone suffering themselves feel less alone. Here are 20 of the best movies that strive to portray the raw realities of alcohol addiction.
20Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
This 1995 film, based on John O’Brien’s autobiographical novel, garnered both a Golden Globe and Academy Award for its star, Nicolas Cage. Cage plays Ben Sanderson, a man who has lost his job, family, and friends due to his alcoholism, and decides to take what money he has left and purposefully drink himself to death in Las Vegas, which seems as good a place as any for the task. Ben nearly runs over a sex worker, Sera (Elisabeth Shue), with his car, and he ends up paying her to come to his hotel room, not for sex, but for someone to talk to. The two form a relationship of sorts, but the damage they cause towards themselves ends up also being damage that they cause each other. It’s by no means a pretty portrait, visceral and painful to watch. But Cage,as reviewed on Rotten Tomatoes, “finds humanity in his character as it bleeds away.”
19Days of Wine and Roses (1962)
Lee Remick and Jack Lemmon shine in Blake Edwards’ 1962 drama as secretary Kirsten and PR man Joe, who meet and marry. Kirsten doesn’t drink at all until Joe cajoles her to join him in the constant drinking that is part of his job, and it quickly begins to seep over into their home life as well. Joe’s work suffers, and he is demoted, while Kirsten, alone all day with their young daughter, exhibits increasingly dangerous behavior because of her drinking. Their attempts to get sober have varying effects, and while Joe gets himself to AA, Kirsten can’t admit that she has a problem. It’s a sad look at a couple who love each other, but their addictive personalities make it clear they are better off apart.
18The Lost Weekend (1945)
Ray Milland won a much-deserved Oscar for his portrayal of alcoholic writer Don Birnam in Billy Wilder’s 1945 film (which also won Best Picture, Best Director, and is one of only three films to ever win both the Best Picture Oscar and the Cannes Grand Prix). The classic film begins with Don evading his fiancée Helen and his brother Wick to buy some liquor and stop in a bar, where he tells the bartender of how Helen and Wick are always rescuing him, and how he plans to write an autobiographical novel calledThe Bottle. As the titular weekend progresses, Don slips further and further into degradation, eventually at the brink of suicide when Helen and Wick are able to stop him. He ends the film determined to put it all behind him and write the novel, but it’s hard to have hope that he can stick to his newfound convictions.
Related:The Best Horror Movies that Explore Mental Illness, Ranked
17Smashed (2012)
Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul, James Ponsoldt’s 2012 drama drew comparisons toDays of Wine and Roses(see above), as Winstead and Paul portray Kate and Charlie, married alcoholics. Kate is an elementary school teacher whose drinking is throwing her job into jeopardy, getting the attention of her colleagues and leading her to lie to her students. A lie about a pregnancy spirals to out-of-control heights, and when Kate finally decides to come clean, she is fired. Rock bottom leads her to get help and become sober, distancing herself from Charlie, who continues on a downward path.Winstead won excellent reviewsfor her role as a woman struggling to stand on her own and overcome the addiction that in so many ways brought her closer to her husband.
1616 Years of Alcohol (2003)
It’s no surprise that many of the best films about alcoholism were written and/or directed by artists who struggled with it themselves, and this 2003 Scottish film is no exception, based on a semi-autobiographical novel by the writer/director Richard Jobson. Kevin McKidd (who you might recognize as thetragic Tommy fromTrainspotting), plays Frankie, an alcoholic whose story is told in the film’s three sections. Frankie’s unhappy childhood sets him up for failure, which manifests in a period as a violent skinhead in his youth. The failure of a burgeoning relationship sparks him to stop drinking, but when he becomes romantically entangled with another alcoholic, he relapses. Past and present seem to meld as Frankie must decide what his future will hold.
15Affliction (1997)
Paul Schrader directed the film version of Russell Banks’ novel in 1997, and while Nick Nolte and Willem Defoe may have been the more bankable stars, playing the Whitehouse brothers, it’s James Coburn who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor as their alcoholic father Glen. Cruel to the brothers in their childhood, things haven’t improved in the intervening years, which has had lifelong repercussions for the sons, especially Wade (Nolte). The boys’ mother, Glen’s wife, dies, likely as a result of Glen’s neglect, and the years of abuse Wade suffered at his hands come to a head. Coburn is excellent as the unrepentant patriarch, and it’s a telling look at how alcoholism does not limit itself to destroying just the alcoholic, but can take down whole families as well.
14The Legend of the Holy Drinker (1988)
Italian auteur Ermanno Olmi directed this sensitive 1988 film, based on a novella by Austrian Joseph Roth. It concerns Andreas, a homeless drunk played by Rutger Hauer, sleeping rough in Paris when he’s approached by a wealthy man who gives him 200 francs. The catch? His benefactor also tasks him with paying the money back to a local church when he can. The quiet, surreal film shows Andreas’ initial elation at such a gift, but also his despair at what seems the impossible task of ever paying the money back. The audience sees flashbacks to Andreas’ past in Poland, and the events that led him to be laid so low. Andreas is increasingly tortured by the ‘gift’ given to him, but with its caveat, was it really such a gift after all?
13Barfly (1987)
Notoriously hard drinker Charles Bukowski laid out his own problems with alcohol in his screenplay for this semi-autobiographical film, directed by Barbet Schroeder in 1987, for a rather more light-hearted look at alcoholism, but one that doesn’t descend into silliness. Mickey Rourke takes on Bukowski’s alter-ego Henry Chinaski, who, like Bukowski, drinks to deal with the drudgery of under-employment, now and then cutting the tedium by having some of his writing published. His days consist of hanging out at his local bar, although he hates the bartender, until he stumbles into another bar where he meets fellow alcoholic Wande (Faye Dunaway). Henry’s prospects rise and fall, but not much changes, and Rourke received good reviews as a man who just can’t get out of the rut he’s put himself in.
12When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)
Meg Ryan, so typically the romantic comedy heroine, received rave reviews for her turn as an alcoholic mother in this emotional 1994 film. She plays Alice, a school counselor married to a pilot, Michael (Andy Garcia). She’s a charming, fun mother who dotes on her two children, until she starts drinking, at which point she becomes violent and unpredictable. An incident with her older daughter lands her in rehab, where she does well. But upon returning home, her relationship with Michael has been thrown from its previous balance, as she no longer needs him as a caretaker, and is focused on the relationships that are keeping her sober. Again, the film shows not just the effects of alcohol addiction on the person drinking, but on the people around them, andRoger Ebert commentedthat the film “isn’t just about Alice’s recovery. It’s about Michael’s recovery from Alice’s recovery.”
11Opening Night (1977)
The always stunning Gena Rowlands plays actress Myrtle Gordon in husband John Cassavettes 1977 film. Myrtle, while starring in a new play, witnesses the accidental death of one of her fans, an incident which devastates and then obsesses her. Her work in the play starts to crumble, and she can no longer find meaning in the role as she begins to drink more and more to cope with growing visions of the dead fan. It’s something of a horror film as the audience watches Myrtle disintegrate, the alcohol less her root problem and more of a tool that aids her on her way down.
