This movie is an example of a slow burner, emulating the tedious and monotonous life of a recovering and struggling addict. Four Days Good (2020) definitely takes its audience on a slow and steady journey. The movie is based on a 2016 article names, “How’s Amanda? A Story of Truth, Lies and an American Addiction”. The real Amanda Wendler struggled with addiction for a decade, before moving in with her parents to get clean. There is no doubt that this story is heartbreakingly raw and unbelievably tragic at times, it is hard to watch a character go through these struggles, let alone knowing it’s based off of reality. Sadly though, the casting of Mila Kunis took me out of the emotion. Kunis delivered a reasonably good performance, with a distinct physical change and she adapted well to the habits and mannerisms of an addict. She brought as much as she could to the role but it didn’t quite feel right and she wasn’t cast well.
The story is fundamentally pulled together from every single drug related movie ever made, the narrative is simplistic and feels unoriginal. The reality behind this movie deserved a better chance or at least a script which has its own voice, which this does not. The acting performances were all good but just good, nothing stood out to me as groundbreaking or unique. Four Good Days (2020) is your typical addiction movie, nothing new, nothing that has not been said before. Although I commend Glenn Close for her believable portrayal as a broken mother and Kunis’ dedication to her physical transformation, neither of their performances could distract me enough from the mundane and unoriginal display of characters and actions.
Overall, I was disappointed by this feature. I truly expected more from the cast and the overall premise. The film was one dimensional and had little to no originally or personality. The subject matter should resonate with many and for those reasons it should have had more soul and heart. The film felt outdrawn and boring at times and I truly think it should have been executed better considering the core of the plot.
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