After getting into a car accident while drunk on the day of her sister's wedding, Gwen Cummings is given a choice between prison or a rehab center. She chooses rehab, but is extremely resistant to taking part in any of the treatment programs they have to offer, refusing to admit that she has an alcohol addiction.
Acting
Bullock's raw, unglamorous desperation—her best early dramatic work.
Writing
Smart rehab scenes that avoid both misery porn and easy redemption.
Direction
Betty Thomas keeps it grounded when it could've gone Lifetime.
Director
Betty Thomas
Sandra Bullock
Gwen Cummings
Viggo Mortensen
Eddie Boone
Dominic West
Jasper
Elizabeth Perkins
Lily Cummings
Azura Skye
Andrea
Steve Buscemi
Cornell
Alan Tudyk
Gerhardt
Mike O'Malley
Oliver
Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Roshanda
Reni Santoni
Daniel
Diane Ladd
Bobbie Jean
Margo Martindale
Betty
Susan Krebs
Evelyn
Loudon Wainwright III
Guitar Guy
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Viggo Mortensen took the role right before Lord of the Rings made him unavailable for small dramas.
The film was pioneering for 2000—one of few studio pictures treating addiction as disease not moral failure, though some critics found the comedy elements tonally confused.
US
