Conez

Hi all...

I was just curious if anyone has seen any good movies about alcoholism/addiction and/or Recovery... just looking to find a handful of good flicks to watch that depict any aspect related to this issue. (anything that falls into any term in the recovery glossary thread)

i'm hoping it may give light to some of my related difficulties, as reading stories in the bigbook and going to AA meetings has done.

I'm sure i've seen some movies in the past about some rockstar or family that suffers thru addiction.... and somewhere in there, is a feel good message.

My memory is so poor... i was just hoping the SR community maybe able to offer some helpful movies.

Thanks

p.s, i'm not talkin about movies that embelish drug/alcohol use... ie, how high, half baked, friday, cocktail, etc

lilbit

I thought I did this list...but what is old is new again...love to recycle.

Okay...Recovery movies with Rock Stars....does this include Jesus Christ too? He's THE Rock Star...ya know...when ya hit rock bottom...I am THE rock at the bottom kinda thing he use to say...anyhow...be back with my new list...hope it helps...let's see.....

lilbit

#1. Once We Were Warriors (foreign...but still in english...I think)
#2. Cool Hand Luke (Not REALLY yer classice recovery movie...but between the lines...IT'S ALL ABOUT RECOVERY...smart addicts watch this in a totally different light...)
#3. Smoke Signals (just an awesome flick...well written...great for Alanon people too!)
#4. My Left Foot (Think you can't write a blog or a post..WATCH THIS ONE!!!)
#5. Angela's Ashes (GREAT BOOK! Inspired me to write again)
#6. Requium For A HeavyWeight (old movie...yes it's in black and white...but it says sooo much!)
#7. The Butcher Boy ( "I've made a million trillion baskets"...gotta see THIS one)
#8. My Name Is Joe (I think this is a Scottish flick...hard to find...but saw it in the theatres years back.)

That should occupy you fer a minute.
ENJOY!

Paulie

- My Name is Bill W. (with James Woods, about starting AA)
- Never get out of the Boat (great movie IMO)
- Candy (pretty graphic drug use)
- Requiem for a Dream (pretty graphic drug use)
- Sherrybaby
- Down to the bone

There is just a few more.

KaiK

I loved Things We Lost in the Fire ... it's a great new DVD release with Halle Berry and Benicio del Torro dealing with heroin addiction. Also, When a Man Loves a Woman with Meg Ryan...pretty much can't go wrong with that one...

I'm always on the lookout for movies with a recovery slant...

Does anyone know of any good Documentaries? True stories are so inspirational to me, too..

Kai

Paulie

YES - I just say 'Things we lost in the fire' a few weeks ago....GREAT movie!!!!!

And 'When a man loves a woman' - one of the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What about 'Pay it forward'???? that is good too.

There really are alot of them out there.

Documentaries.....I have seen alot of them, I will think on that. The latest one I watched, last weekend, was 'Cocaine Cowboys'. It is about the influx of cocaine in the 1970's in the US. IT is not about recovery at all, but it is interesting to see how they got drugs into the country then and how differnet things are now. And I found it amazing how easy it was then to start the widespread use of drugs in our country.....crazy.

Conez

thanx Paulie & Kai for the replies... got a movie list going now

Bitz... was sure i could find something here @SR similar to this thread... but i not too savvy with the search thread thingy... so thanx for putting me onto ur list of movies.

bsfish

Go to Amazon and enter recovery in the search, thers a few there

least

I've not seen it, but isn't Leaving Las Vegas about an alcoholic? Nicholas Cage? Someone please enlighten me.

Ananda

yeah - and he never does recover.....really a good portrail of alchoholism.

barb dwyer

Pay it forward.

That one ... really got to me early in recovery.

faith08

When A Man Loves A Woman is definitely one of my fave movies. I can never watch it without crying my eyes out. The part where they are in the pool and she says she is going to quit just kills me.
There are quite a few movies on Lifetime--not sure of exact names. I know one is called Under The Influence.

ex D-Boy

Hmmm recovery // addiction movies .....

Trainspotting (Starring : Ewan Mcgregor)
Requiem for a Dream (Starring : Jared Leto, Jennifer Connely)
Drugstore Cowboy (Starring : Matt Dillon)
The Basketball Diaries (Starring : Leonardo DiCaprio)
Permanent Midnight (Starring : Ben Stiller)
Another Day in Paradise (Starring : James Woods)
Wonderland (Starring : Val Kilmer)

All very good movies about addiction and good messages in all of them. As long as you can sit through the first 20 minutes or so of hard drug use ( aaaah!! lol). But once you get past all that they all pretty much have very positive messages, excluding wonderland.

Ananda

basket ball diaries is a favorit of mine. I saw the man do a reading at a reunion i was at...it was great. unforunately he appeared to be "jiving for a fix", but I don't know, it might be that is just left over from past use.

Regardless, he certainly captured addiction well in his writings.

beingjenagain

when a man loves a woman I cry everytime I see it. it one i can't change if i am surfing thru the TV

Done_With_It

Gia
Thirteen
Numb
28 Days
Clean and Sober
Blow
Wonderland
21 Grams
The Saltun Sea
Rush
Needle Park
Trainspotting
Traffic
Spun

I think Paulie mention Requim, I loved that one also!

least

"Clean and sober", I forgot about that one. Michael Keaton is great!

"Needle park", another great one, Al Pacino is wonderful!

Done_With_It

I was trying to remember about Leaving Las Vegas. I think your right
but I'm not sure.
I know my Dad loves that one for some reason.

I love Clean and Sober.
I don't remember Needle Park too well.

Conez

thanx everyone.

adding all of the above to my veiwing over the next few... wks/mths.

so pleased how many good replies and movies i've got from this thread... will keep me entertained for quite some time! lol

lilbit

Well if you travel...watch Brokedown Palace and Midnight Run. Good message about what other countries do to people who import export drugs. Amnesty International has their hands full!