Successful Alcoholics

A few days ago, Funny or Die sent out a Tweet about "Successful Alcoholics"--recommending the film and saying it's posted on their site. However, after viewing the film, I think it's a very odd film for them, as it's really NOT a comedy but a very dark little film about alcoholism.

The film stars two very obnoxious yet oddly successful drunks. No matter how intoxicated they become, people around them seem to put up with their boorish antics--mostly because the man and woman have been able to successfully lie and manipulate. While perhaps funny in a very dark way, it's pretty intense when they find themselves in Denver at 2am and start panicking because they can't find any liquor--and their eventual solution is pretty pathetic.

I am not sure exactly who the audience is for this film. It is quite well made but not funny. Things like the DTs, memory issues and vomiting aren't especially laughable. Perhaps it's a good poignant little film to show to budding alcoholics.

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.

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.

The reviewers with comments seeming to struggle with "what the film was" or "what is it trying to say?", or particularly the penultimate review expressing bewilderment over how/why/when the film ended..... bewilder me. They are either overthinking it, or apparently lack any sense of pathos and/or humor. For Christ's sake. It is not intended to be a treatise on alcoholism.... or a "primer for budding alcoholics" as one obtuse commenter suggested. Jesus, people like these commenters could drive one to drink.

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.