Successful Alcoholics (2010) Reviews

• Great Look at Alcoholics

  abehrends2012-07-08

  I just graduated film school, the whole while drinking every day, getting a DUI, attending AA meetings, and loathing most . I'm a huge fan of this movie for what it's core values and ideas are. It's essentially a short about functional alcoholics but also how some of the smartest and most creative people in the world can't see the world without some sort of mind altering substance. It's a good look at how dumb people can be, and at how easy it is to drown everything out. It's funny to me because as I'm writing this review there is a really loud neighbor explaining what alcoholics are like...and whoever is on the balcony with them is loving it, and spouting about people they know who drink a lot. It's all humorous, and though I agree that this film isn't really a comedy, it's a good farce about alcoholism. And not to take the subject lightly but, it all comes down to the individual. Which is what makes the ending so poignant for me.

• Wow

  bballplayer3002011-05-14

  Wow is all I can say. Obviously, seeing this short film posted on "Funny Or Die" makes you anticipate a lot of the humorous scenes you'd expect based on the title. But the actual plot begins to develop and it gets way more intense than you'd have expected. In short: watch it. Impressive acting by T.J. Miller, but I think this film is a great example of his abilities as a writer. After seeing him in She's Out of My League, I thought he would be a goofy comedic actor in Judd Apatow-esque films the rest of his career, but this has changed my mind. Great acting all around. Great use of humor to keep the film from getting too dark. Hey, its a short film, and its online so find a half hour of your time to watch it.

• Successful blend of comedy and pathos

  bob the moo2014-04-20

  Dark comedy is something I enjoy a lot but unfortunately it is something that is very easy to do badly and it is impressive when you find a film that really manages to walk that fine line well. In Successful Alcoholics we more or less have this; the plot sees a young professional couple who somehow manage to hold down jobs while mostly spending their nights blackout drunk and their days either suffering or maintaining that drunken buzz they need to just get by. As a story it is surprisingly engaging because you do get interested in the characters because they are not just comedy creations, even though they of course do work as such as well. The film manages to just about keep them within a reality created by the short, so that although they are extreme to be able to get laughs, they never drift too far from the point where the film ultimately needs to come back to. The dialogue and scenarios are mostly very funny and I liked the darkness always on the edge – in particular as the film comes into the final third it is a little touching in what it delivers and how. The performances help this a great deal. Miller is a good presence but it is Caplan that does the best work as she has to bridge the comedic and the serious and she does it very well. Both make good drunks as well – it is not as easy to act drunk as you would think but both of them do it convincingly here. Overall it is an odd film but it is both funny and quite touchingly engaging by the end. It is a dark piece so those expecting pratfalls or frat-boy drunkenness may be disappointed, but this works on a couple of levels and I was surprised by how good a short film it was.

• A funny and thought provoking short film

  blakelockett452016-07-27

  TJ Miller and Liz Caplan are both great in this funny and honest portrait of addiction. This film starts off with Drake and Lindsay having a good time with their drinking. They seem happy, even though to the outside world, getting blackout drunk on a Tuesday night would seem unusual. Their friends try to help them, but they both seem contempt in their life of heavy drinking. This all comes to a halt when the film takes a turn. Lindsay experiences major withdrawals on the road and decides she needs to turn her life around, leaving Drake alone on his self destructive path. This is one of the first films I've seen to acknowledge the two sides of drinking,the fun side and the dark side. And it balances the two well in a very un preachy way with great acting. A funny and heartfelt short film 9 out of ten stars

• Successful film

  Horst_In_Translation2015-11-03

  "Successful Alcoholics" is a 25-minute short film from 5 years ago starring Lizzy Caplan from "Masters of Sex". Apart from her, there are a couple more well-known actors in here such as Emmy winner Tony Hale. And the male protagonist is played by T.J. Miller, who also co-wrote the script together with director Jordan Vogt-Roberts ("The Kings of Summer"). The title describe the film pretty nicely. It's about a young couple who try to master their social and professional lives despite being heavy alcoholics. There is quite a bit of comedy to this film, but it also brings the necessary heaviness that you'd expect from a film about this subject. All in all, it is certainly a good watch and the actors do a fine job here. Also interesting to see how everybody deals differently with the protagonists' issues and I liked that there is no completely happy ending here. Forced feel-good is bad and I love the authenticity that comes with this little movie. I would not say it's truly outstanding at any point like for example Mary Elizabeth Winstead's "Smashed", but it is still a recommendable short movie. Thumbs up.