MovieChat Forums > Life of the Party Discussion > After School Special for 30-somethings

After School Special for 30-somethings

posted 17 years ago by thePrepster
5 replies | jump to latest

Even though I enjoyed the part of the commentary that I heard, the actual movie "Life of the Party" was pretty lame, IMO. The only thing I really enjoyed about this film was Clifton Collins Jr., who I've been a fan of since "187." The entire movie was cliche after cliche after cliche. I wanted to turn the movie off after about twenty minutes, but I hung in there hoping that it would get better.

The first five minutes were the only decent minutes, and if the entire movie had been about him trying to hide his drinking and trying to maintain a normal life while being an alcoholic, I think we could've had something. Instead, though, they had to throw in an "intervention" subplot that took way too long, and a climax at a runner's track that was laughably bad.

If you want to see a good movie about alcoholism check out "Barfly" or even Anthony Lapaglia in "Happy Hour." For a couple of classics about alcoholism check out "Days of Wine and Roses" or "The Lost Weekend." These movies show people at rock bottom, who have only two choices: sober, or six feet under.

[–] mochuck 17 years ago

I totally agree. It started out reasonably well then it just became implausible and boring. The scene where the four of them are standing in a lake on a golf course was so contrived. The mother and father were the best part of this movie.

Sure a dictatorship would be easier - Dubya

[–] frequency-2 17 years ago

I agree with you both. If you have no objection to a bottle of Stoli on the bedside table and you wake up and have 3 ouces of booze before you are even out of bed and then start getting ready for work. And everything else around you is so nice.
There wasn't anything realistic in the whole scheme except that his friends and his wife trying to get him to seek help. It would have made sense if they had showed the world through his drunk eyes, and then we had a less attractive reality to balance it with.

[–] alejandra_pulido1025 16 years ago

For a movie, perhaps having only those two choices (to be sober, or be six feet under) is relevant. But if we can also look at the average alcoholic's case in reality and their two choices are being sober, or living their life in a monotonous, lifeless manner WITHOUT your daily dose of Stoli. This movie may not examine the extreme cases shown in movies like The Lost Weekend, but the AVERAGE Joe's problem and how to approach it.

[–] frequency-2 16 years ago

alejandra,
I can agree that there are many "funtional" alcoholics who may fit the pattern
of the guy in this movie. My feeling is if it was a message to those people it failed to deliver. Even the bits where the guy was drunk and doing very stupid things were made to seem less crazy than it would be in real life.
ie, drunk friend borrows car and wrecks it, owner of car is forgiving.
real life- car owner sues friend and never speaks to him again, much less plans intervention.
There just wasn't enough reality for me for such a tough subject, it was all too nice and predictable, except for the part with the gun! They really shoulda kicked his butt for that one.

[–] teadm 16 years ago

Lame is too mild a word for this TV-level dreck. The script, directing and acting are amateurish, the leading man is mediocre, some seasoned cast members strain and embarrass themselves in this stinker. Somebody actually thought this would get a wide theatrical release, so the film was shot in "scope" (later pan & scanned for TV showings). Jaw-droppingly bad.