Whereas consuming and even informal drug use are woven into the fashionable American cloth, and are widespread themes in widespread tradition, an estimated one-third of Individuals do not drink. A good portion of the inhabitants identifies as totally clear and sober. On days when sober people need to watch a film, but additionally desire a reminder of why they select to not drink or use medication, they will flip to those movies—which, by the best way, are literally good.
1. Leaving Las Vegas (1995)
Arguably Nic Cage’s most compelling function and movie, Leaving Las Vegas chronicles the fast demise of Cage’s Ben Sanderson. The screenwriter flees Hollywood for Vegas, a liquor retailer’s price of booze in tow.
In Sin Metropolis, Ben meets escort Sera (Elisabeth Shue), and a twisted romance unfolds amidst the neon lights and seedy motels of the Vegas Strip. A superb soundtrack and mood-setting cinematography add to this movie’s can’t-help-but-look attract.
2. Flight (2012)
A really authentic movie, Flight casts Denzel Washington as pilot Whip Whitaker, who we discover out has a behavior of flying whereas tipsy, if not drunk. However when Whitaker executes a miraculous maneuver to avoid wasting an airplane of passengers in dire circumstances, complicated questions come up because the pilot’s conduct comes below scrutiny.
Flight is an engrossing character research of actually, actually high-functioning alcoholism.
3. A Star Is Born (2018)
One of many uncommon examples the place a remade movie is arguably higher than the unique, A Star Is Born options Bradley Cooper as an addict-musician Jackson Maine. Girl Gaga’s Ally, the apple of Maine’s eye, balances her personal skyrocketing profession and a relationship with a spiraling accomplice.
4. Honey Boy (2019)
In a Rennaissance yr for Shia LaBeouf, Honey Boy gave viewers a glance into the seeds of LaBeouf’s well-noted private struggles. This free biopic by which LaBeouf performs his personal rodeo clown, substance-abusing father, will tug at your coronary heart and stick in your reminiscence.
5. Trainspotting (1996)
Danny Boyle’s masterpiece about heroin addicts bop via Edinburgh is a uncommon movie that mixes humor with drug dependancy. One of many esteemed movies with an IMDb score of higher than 8, Trainspotting does the chaotic lifetime of a junkie justice.
6. Rocketman (2019)
Taran Egerton’s flip as Elton John on this 2019 box-office smash confirmed Sir Elton at excessive highest and lowest. These low factors embrace the pianist’s struggles with medication and alcohol, which led him to get (and keep) sober for over three a long time (and counting).
Rocketman is a completely entertaining, visually-appealing movie that shines a light-weight on the rollercoaster lifetime of an iconic showman.
7. Krisha (2015)
A24 bought the low-budget Krisha after sturdy essential reception. The movie tells the story of occasion gal Krisha, who reveals up on the household Thanksgiving unannounced after a ten-year estrangement from her members of the family. Cringe ensues.
Clear and sober viewers will recognize the awkwardness that emanates from a personality making an attempt to navigate a super-awkward social state of affairs with out intoxicating support. However will Krisha succeed?
8. Loopy Coronary heart (2009)
One other compelling story of the music trade’s skill to coax out a person’s demons (seeing a typical theme right here), Loopy Coronary heart follows Jeff Bridges’ Dangerous Blake. A rustic star effectively previous his prime, Blake is working the small-bar circuit when he meets Jean, a journalist who begins to coax one thing else out of Blake.
With cameos from Maggie Gyllenhaal and Colin Farrell, the solid alone is adequate cause to look at Loopy Coronary heart.
9. Lovely Boy (2018)
Primarily based on a real story of an creator whose son slips into an dependancy that makes him unrecognizable to his household, Lovely Boy permits Steve Carell to shine in a dramatic function. Its foundation in actuality, implies that this movie presents a narrative that viewers with dependancy of their lives will discover acquainted—for higher or worse.
10. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
When you see Requiem for a Dream, you possibly can’t un-see Requiem for a Dream. A surrealistic tackle dependancy in its many varieties, Darren Aronofsky’s hellish thriller places Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans, Jennifer Connelly, and Ellen Burstyn via a Dante’s Inferno-level descent into insanity.
11. Barfly (1987)
Primarily based on the lifetime of legendary poet Charles Bukowski, Barfly is a portrait of a drinker. Mickey Rourke takes lead on this movie that’s unabashedly about booze, infusing humor whereas by no means hiding the rinse, repeat cycle that lifelong barflies reside.
12. Smashed (2012)
What occurs when two individuals who have all the time bonded over alcohol determine to make a change? Or, to be particular, one of them decides to make a change? Can the connection (on this case a wedding) survive?
These are questions that Smashed strives to reply to nice dramatic impact.
13. Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Drugstore Cowboy is the drug consumer’s reply to The City. Moderately than robbing banks, Matt Dillon’s Bob and his gang of thieves knock over drug shops to fund their behavior. A frenetic movie that has a Trainspotting-like pacing, Drugstore Cowboy lets you snort on the insanity of dependancy.
14. Julia (2008)
One of many lesser-known movies on this record, Julia casts Tilda Swinton in an unfamiliar function. She performs a determined Julia, whose alcoholism has left her with more and more few profession choices. When offered with a hair-brained scheme {that a} rational particular person would by no means think about, the viewer begins to see the depths of Julia’s desperation.
15. Stroll the Line (2005)
Like Elton John, Johnny Money proves that the pressures of the music trade, combined with the demons that always encourage nice artists, are a recipe for catastrophe. Stroll the Line was a smash hit on the time of its launch in 2005, and it is past due for a re-watch.
16. Every thing Should Go (2010)
Will Ferrell’s tackle the plight of the drunken household man, Every thing Should Go is a singularly distinctive movie. Ferrell’s Nick Halsey loses his job, loses his spouse, relapses on the sauce, and decides to face guard of all of the stuff his spouse has thrown out of the home.
Whereas it has an undeniably humorous bent, Every thing Should Go in the end delivers the get-your-stuff-together message that is usually referred to as for with movies of this sort.
17. Ironweed (1987)
Jack Nicholson performs a drunken drifter in Despair-era upstate New York. Want we are saying any extra? See Ironweed, which stays some of the underappreciated gems in Nicholson’s catalog.
18. The Hangover (2009)
So you’ve got in all probability seen The Hangover already. Nevertheless, for many who noticed this comedy traditional round its launch date in 2009, The Hangover shortly grew to become a film you watched so many instances that you simply’d swear you’d by no means watch it once more. So, it might need been a minute because you watched this cautionary story in regards to the excesses of alcohol, so why not take it for an additional spin?
19. Site visitors (2000)
Director Steven Soderbergh has a knack for making movies which might be concurrently thrilling and heartwrenching. Site visitors hits that very same notice, weaving a number of tales collectively to the touch each angle of America’s Struggle on Medicine. With Benicio del Toro, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones and a robust supporting solid, this acclaimed movie will go away you pondering.
20. Clear and Sober (1988)
Michael Keaton stars as Daryl Poynter, who enjoys cocaine, alcohol, and his life as a hotshot actual property agent. However when the facade comes crashing down, Poynter is compelled to go to rehab. When Keaton’s trademark spark meets the no-nonsense persona of Morgan Freeman’s Craig, who counsels recovering addicts, this movie evolves into one thing greater than first meets the attention.
21. Half Nelson (2006)
You are so used to seeing Ryan Gosling because the silver-tongued Mr. Suave or the brooding hero, however have you ever seen Ryan Gosling as a crack-addicted schoolteacher? With the indie hit Half Nelson, you possibly can witness Gosling flex his appearing vary.
22. Rachel Getting Married (2008)
This 2008 film finds Anne Hathaway as Kym, the black sheep of her household who has to skip out of rehab for a bit to attend her sister’s wedding ceremony. A reminder of how life strikes on whereas addicts usually re-experience the identical hurdles repeatedly, Rachel Getting Married is directed by famend filmmaker Jonathan Demme.
23. As soon as Had been Warriors (1994)
Some of the famend worldwide movies of its time, As soon as Had been Warriors examines poverty amongst New Zealand’s Polynesian inhabitants. Themes of home violence, substance abuse, and authorized troubles mix with a heartfelt sense of neighborhood and heat to make this a singular and enduring movie.
24. The Panic in Needle Park (1971)
What’s it with Al Pacino doing the grittiest of gritty movies within the Seventies. From Serpico to Canine Day Afternoon and The Panic in Needle Park, Pacino performed some dudes in tooough conditions. This heroin-tainted love story will reinforce addicts’ determination to get clear.
25. Ray (2004)
Jamie Foxx performs Ray Charles in Ray. Foxx would win the Oscar for Greatest Actor in a landslide, as he masterfully mimics Charles’ mannerisms, voice, and blindness. Foxx additionally emulates Charles’ descent into heroin dependancy. The music on this film, by the best way, is fairly darn good, too.
This text was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
