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The 12-step movie
by MATTHEW HAYS Which filmmaker could have assembled a cast that includes Faye Dunaway, Dianne Wiest, Parker Posey, Amanda Plummer, Howard Rollins and Spalding Gray? Altman, Allen, Scorsese or Coppola? Actually, it was Peter Cohn, and if you haven't heard the name before, you're not alone. Drunks, which stars the aforementioned cast, is his first feature. Cohn's work is a prime example of what's happening on the American independent scene. A-list actors, sick and tired of the conceptual impotence nagging Hollywood for the past few years, are now gravitating toward independent directors like Cohn. "Films that have been done about alcoholism before--Leaving Las Vegas, The Lost Weekend, Clean and Sober--didn't really depict the recovery process," says Cohn. "Drunks is about recovery and attempts to go into as much detail as possible." Drunks opens in a hall where a New York chapter of AA is about to convene. Richard Lewis plays Jim, an alcoholic devastated by the death of his wife three years ago. As members arrive and take their places, Lewis rises to speak and enthrals everyone with his story, one of the sheer emotional depths and self-loathing of an addict. Soon after his revelations are over, Lewis storms out of the building in an apparent bid to hit the bottle again. His AA buddies are concerned, but resigned to the fact that it's ultimately his choice. The remainder of the film intricately cuts between a series of monologues by the film's impressive cast at the AA meeting and Lewis's horrific return to the habit. Lifting the piece from the stage to the big screen was a challenge. "The difficulty was how to make it more cinematic and still adhere to the reality of the situation, which is a bunch of people sitting around in a room talking. So we added the story of Richard Lewis, which is really the story of everyone in the room. He's the one on that night who has to go out and grapple with his demons, facing the question of life and death. It was a narrative structure I'd never seen before--intercutting monologues with a narrative story that had a beginning, a middle and an end." Cohn insists that the set was entirely democratic and, despite Oscar-winners and luminaries on board, there was no diva treatment for any individual-- "There were no limos and Faye Dunaway shared a dressing room with Spalding Gray." But Cohn admits to being a tad intimidated by Ms. Dunaway. "I've always idolized her, because just as I was coming of age her career was starting. She was always an ideal for me. So I was scared working with a woman I'd idealized so much--and pined for." Naturally, such an intelligent and true-to-life depiction of the recovery process brings up the question: does Cohn have any experience with substance abuse himself? "Well, I grew up in the '70s. I know the scene. I've also been a writer for a long time, so I'm in a high risk category."
Drunks opens this Friday, Aug. 15 at the Cinéma du Parc. See repertory listings for showtimes |
Drunks director Peter Cohn depicts the AA experience