When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story

Congratulations to Hallmark for making an incredibly important movie for all the families of alcohol addicted loved ones. 95% of the movies on the Hallmark Channel always seem to be saccharine stories of couples in love, and they usually take place in some make believe perfect little town. This story is raw and real. It gives hope to those who may want to quit believing for the best in others, while illustrating what a devil of a disease alcohol addiction is.

I wish Hallmark would make more true biographies. They were common in the movies 50 years ago, and serve to enlighten and educate viewers, young and old.

"When Love Is Not Enough" is a film of a very specific style. That sort of style most commonly seen in films which consider the most effective way to depict a period drama is in mimicking the film-making style of said period. If you can swallow all the tear-jerking music and glossy cinematography, you will certainly appreciate the story better. But I found myself aching for a little bit more grittiness. Even much older alcoholic dramas such as "The Lost Weekend" or "Days of Wine and Roses" had a degree of emotional intensity not quite present here. Then again, this is a TV movie, and similar expectations are not necessarily in play.

Winona Ryder and Barry Pepper are two of my favorite actors. They don't disappoint here. Pepper (as Bill Wilson) is appropriately pathetic for the better half of the film, believably drunk and unhinged. Ryder (as Bill's wife, Lois) is given somewhat less to work with. Some of her dialogue during the more intense arguments is so wordy and roundabout that she seems tied between losing her breath and keeping a straight face. Both of which tend to get in the way of projecting emotion.

It's a good enough film. The story takes you through the events of Bill and Lois' married life, always without making you feel like it's arbitrary or scripted out. The unfortunate side is how John Kent Harrison doesn't offer anything at all outstanding with his direction. The look is flat, clean, ordinary. He sometimes uses off-kilter angles in the composition, which is always distracting and immediately makes one think of 1960s television shows. Harrison prevents the actors from pushing further than expected, and gives nothing but limitations to the production.

In the end, this is probably worth watching. The actors give enough guts and passion to make it worth your time. It's nothing to subvert even the lowest of expectations, but you get the sense that everyone tried their best. And that's commendable, even when their best is not enough.

I show this to my substance abuse group multiple times a year, and each time you can tell the effects of the alcoholism resonates with my group members. Story moves a little fast, some of the acting and dialogue is crunched-eyes inducing, but it's an effective story and movie.

At the beginning of this fact-based Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation about the couple who helped start Alcoholics Anonymous, Lois and Bill Wilson get married in 1918 before he goes off to serve in World War I.

After the war, Bill returns home and works on Wall Street. Lois, whose father is a doctor, works as a nurse with the mentally ill.

Bill realizes that it would be helpful for investors to know about the companies they invest in, so he starts analyzing the companies, something not done much in the past. This involves lots of travel, including a motorcycle trip with Lois that involves comic misadventures.

The work is stressful but eventually rewarding. Bill copes with the stress by drinking. He and his friends often get together and drink. Never mind Prohibition. Everyone in this movie finds a way.

Bill gets abusive when he drinks, but he keeps promising he will stop. And then he eventually starts again and the problems continue.

Lois gets pregnant but can never carry a baby to term. Perhaps this is all for the best since it wouldn't be a good idea to bring up a child in a home where the father behaves the way Bill sometimes does. One of the couple's friends admits this when the couple tries to adopt.

The Depression eventually puts an end to the prosperity the Wilsons and so many others have experienced. Bill finds this a reason to drink, but sooner or later he will have to stop one way or another.

This movie does a good job of showing how hard it is to stop drinking and to keep from starting again, and shows how it is possible for people with a common problem to support each other.

Winona Ryder and Barry Pepper both do a very good job. I expect Ryder to be nominated for some award.

I enjoyed the music. During the 1920s, there is a lot of music which one could dance the Charleston to, but there are also other enjoyable styles of music from that era. One song included a fiddle and several other instruments.

I wouldn't recommend this to young children because the subject matter is quite adult, but this is still a family movie in a sense and doesn't really include offensive content. So much of the movie is depressing and hard to watch, but there is plenty of positive content too.

It's a worthy effort.

When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story (2010) Director: John Kent Harrison First Watched: 4/22/25 6/10 Stars

AA origins, clunky, cliche Hallmark; but title's the truth- baby nor God can save you when alcohol's your true love.

#Tanka #PoemReview

The Tanka is tending poetry form with poems containing five lines. Each line has a set number of syllables, creating an overall syllabic pattern of 5-7-5-7-7. Tanka are divided into an upper phrase, containing the first three lines, and the lower phrase, which contains the last two lines. There are no meter or rhyming requirements attached to these poems.