It sounds to me like your friend has a problem with alcohol. That is like an over eater bad mouthing Wieght Watchers because they are still over wieght but never followed thier progroam. I know of no one who knows much about AA because they were on a winning streak.
There are various pathes to recovery but AA has been around 80 years and I personally know 50+ people with 10+ years of sobriety and know at least 30 with 20+ years of sobriety so it works for a lot of people not to mention numerous 30+ years.
I would question whether this person is a true friend. All of my drinking and non-drinking friends are extremely supportive of my AA involvement