28 Days With Sandra Bullok, Movie Review Example

This movie is about the very successful New York columnist Gwen Cummings experience with spending 28 days in a rehab facility. At first Gwen is reluctant to the treatments and denies that she has a alcohol problem. However as the movie goes on she learns to cope with her addiction and tries to move forward in her life. The movie is mostly carefree but has dashes of serious themes and situations.

The movie begins fairly carefree and Gwen goes through what seems to be an average night of partying and drinking, ending with sex with her boyfriend Jasper. She then oversleeps and shoes up late to her little sister’s wedding. Gwen accidentally smashing into her sisters wedding cake. She then crashes the car into a wall while on the phone trying to replace the cake that she has evidently smashed at the wedding reception. This is the beginning of the main conflict in the movie, where Gwen is forced to face her addiction.

Gwen goes to trial and the judge gives her the choice between jail or 28 days in a rehabilitation center. Gwen chooses the rehab center. Here Gwen meets an eclectic group of troubled individuals, such as her tragic teen roommate Andrea, a junkie doctor named Daniel, a German stripper named Gerhardt, a neglect mother named Roshanda, and Eddie Boone, a former professional pitcher. And although at first she butts heads with her counselor Cornell, she soon opens up to her therapy and begins to respect and trust him.

Gwen begins to learn an important lesson from each of her new companions, such as not being afraid to ask for help and not hurting people on purpose. They continue group therapy. As time goes on, her relationship with Jasper becomes increasingly strained. Eventually the get into a very big fight, which brings Gwen and Eddie Boone even close. They become very close but the relationship does not seem to be physical. Perhaps the darkest moment of the film is when Gwen walks into her bathroom to find her roommate, Andrea, over-dosed on heroine. Andrea dies and there is a physical change in Gwen, as well as her attitude.

Throughout the movie Gwen has more and more flashbacks of abuse she endured as a child. She has therapy with her sister and together they flush out the root of Gwen’s addictions. When Gwen realizes that her dead mother’s alcoholism has caused her to pursue instant gratification she seems to begin to change her ways. At the end of the movie, she leaves both of the men in her life, both Jasper and Eddie, to pursue a life of choice and responsibility.

At the end of the movie, Gwen is seen at a store to buy a plant. She sees Gerhardt and sees how he has bought a dog. He is extremely happy to see her and even cries on her shoulder. This demonstrates the complete redemption of Gwen. She has fully transformed from an indecisive, dependent person to a independent woman. She has championed her self control and once again becomes a pillar of strength for one of her friends. Through her 28 days in rehab, she has not only learned through all of her companions struggles, but learned the underlying reason for her addiction. The movie therefore ends on a optimistic note.