While she may lash out at times at her mother and others, it is clear that, above all, she blames herself. You can report it by calling our circulation number at 770-253-1576 or emailing stacie@newnan.com. Mollys mother, Deb, sometimes doesnt want to love her daughter after feeling betrayed time and again. He further added that the doubts in a guardians mind does someone abandons their child or perhaps be an enabler are key to the story. Post chief film critic Ann Hornaday will lead the discussion on Monday, May 24 at 5:00pm ET. The work is a fictionalized version of events in the life of a woman from Farmington Hills, Michigan. Upon arrival, it is revealed that Molly has been an addict for over a decade, has lost custody of her children, and is on her 15th attempt at sobriety. Instead, the audience is left with a sense that something more fundamental is wrong here. Four Good Days is a sensitive, honest film about the devastating impact of the opioid epidemic on families throughout the US. Join Kunis, director Rodrigo Garca, and co-screenwriter and Pulitzer Prize-winning Saslow, for a conversation about the trauma of addiction and bringing this true story to life on the big screen. WhileFour Good Daysis pulled from real life, the only account of Amandas story is from The Washington Post article about her struggle with sobriety. A Story of Truth, Lies and an American Addiction", "Glenn Close & Mila Kunis To Star In Drama 'Four Good Days', Capstone Launches Sales Cannes", "Reba McEntire is dropping "Somehow You Do," her theme song from the 'Four Good Days' soundtrack", "Diane Warren Lands 13th Oscar Nomination For 'Four Good Days' Song "Somehow You Do"", "2022 | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences", "Sundance Unveils Female-Powered Lineup Featuring Taylor Swift, Gloria Steinem, Abortion Road Trip Drama", "Four Good Days', Starring Glenn Close And Mila Kunis, Acquired By Vertical For U.S. Release", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Four_Good_Days&oldid=1142253578, This page was last edited on 1 March 2023, at 10:26. Kunis,Stephen Root. She said that the feelings of being a mother and the desire for the safety of a child became the most important aspect of her understanding. Recently Eli took time out to talk to Martin Carr about Americas on going battle with this silent killer, and the challenges of screenwriting. are registered trademarks / copyright their respective rights holders. Is 'Operation Fortune' Streaming on HBO Max or Netflix? The rest of the film follows Molly and her mother as they struggle to keep her clean until she can receive the shot. Four Good Days "Four Good Days," starring Mila Kunis and Glenn Close and is based on the reporting of Washington Post national reporter Eli Saslow, tells the story of a young addict who must not use drugs for four days to receive a promising treatment. Her mother, Libby, faced the dire situations that accommodate an addiction for the same eleven years and tried to shrug herself off from the effects. JOIN NOW. US Movies, Dramas, Independent Movies. However, the mass upsurge in opioid addiction points toward a broader cause, the coalescence of many ills hammering at peoples livesinequality, poverty, low wages, unemployment, homelessness and a general lack of confidence in the future that afflicts a considerable section of the population. Glenn Close and Mila Kunis star in this drama, which is based on a 2016 Washington Post article by Eli Saslow. Saslow has won numerous journalism awards, including a Pulitzer Prize in 2014 for Explanatory Reporting. The additional days become excruciating for Deb as she attempts to contact Molly incessantly to no avail. Its a project Newnan officials have been talking about for several years, and it was included in the resolution approved by local voters for the 2019 special purpose local option sales tax. Like the story that inspired it, this movie focuses on the uncertain relationship . The trailer for the That '70s Showalum's new movieFour Good Daysjust hit the internet, andit featuresa bleached-blonde Milaas Molly, a woman battling drug addiction. Deb is clearly shaken and concerned. Four Good Days has largely been met with a collective yawn from the critics. Give her the shot! is still ringing in my ears. Based onJessica Knoll's novel of the same name, it followsAni, a woman trying to outrun ahigh school tragedy that changed the course of her life. This article was published more than1 year ago. Four Good Days is a 2020 American drama film, directed and produced by Rodrigo Garca, from a screenplay by Garca and Eli Saslow, based upon Saslow's 2016 Washington Post article "How's Amanda? Because I was like Intentionally, I want roots, and I want it to look like she went like this with some green dye. And they were like I dont understand. When that was all done and I looked myself in the mirror, I was genuinely like Oh, I can do it now. So, for me, above all else, was having this visual, I mean I looked sickly, right, like I looked unhealthy already due to my weight loss, and then on top of it I just didnt look like myself with bleached yellow hair with dark black roots. (Video: Washington Post Live), The co-screenwriter said the shift in thinking has started after 20 years of seeing addiction as a personal weakness. Perhaps things would have turned out differently, but more than likely not. I think we equate addiction with personal weakness in ways that dont make scientific sense necessarily, and thats also informed a lot of how our medical community has treated addiction, from, over the last 20 years. Announcement, Wedding He also co-wrote the screenplay with Eli Saslow, a Washington Post Pulitzer Prize winner who wrote the article that . Molly speaks to Coach Miller's class on her third day at home. Saslows story captured that rawness and power. Supporting her in this journey is herestranged mother, played by Glenn Close. A Story of Truth, Lies and an American Addiction". Pre-registration is required. Its narrow focus is a limitation. Four Good Days. His singular piece of narrative journalism on the escalating opioid epidemic in America inspired Four Good Days, a frequently harrowing dramatisation of addiction, experienced through the eyes of a mother and daughter. The duos trials and tribulations form the crux of the story and reflect a worsening situation of the opioid epidemic. Four Good Days leaves wider questions untouched. Paired with Garcias incisive take on the issue, Saslow helped create a story of addiction and its problems by focusing on the little nuances of a relationship standing in the throes of a breakdown. If you are looking for sympathy, you wont find any here, her mother insists. Fans Fuming Over Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings' Hosting Schedules: "I Want Ken Full-Time". The film follows the emotional journey of 31-year-old Margaret Molly Wheeler (Mila Kunis). We will be reimplementing membership for Times-Herald.com shortly. . Downloads only available on ad-free plans. Director Garca might be going for the same tone that James L. Brooks achieved in Endearment, but, at this point, such a hospital outburst seems tired and even a little insensitive. In fact, the entire article is centered around Amandas attempts at staying sober for four more days to receive the shot. As Eli Saslow pointed out in his original article for The Washington Post about my daughter's journey in 2016, 350 people start on heroin every day. In one scene shot in a garage, Kunis struggles to credibly deliver common lines. . However, circumstances complicate the road to recovery with every passing moment. 746, This story has been shared 703 times. The website's critics consensus reads: "Four Good Days struggles to bring authenticity to its tragic source material and strands its talent in a bland melodrama. Eli Saslow is a staff writer at The Washington Post, where he writes narrative stories for the national staff's enterprise team. A new drug therapy the opioid antagonist Naltrexone, which promises to block the effect of opiates with a monthly shot, taking away the high that feeds addiction beckons. R.At area theaters. Saslow won the Pulitzer Prize in Explanatory Reporting in 2014 for his coverage of stories regarding food stamps and the glaring problem of hunger. What transpires is what youd expect, made viscerally real by two strong actors. While the story of an ordinary girl, in an ordinary family setting, caught up in the throes of addiction may bore the critics, it has met with a significantly warmer response from viewers. Saslow's story captured that rawness and power. There, Deb has a chance encounter with Molly's ex-boyfriend Eric, who inadvertently reveals that Molly had been pregnant. Watch David Norths remarks commemorating 25 years of the World Socialist Web Site and donate today. Theres only one catch: Molly cant start taking it until her system is completely free of all the substances shes been abusing. She takes her time trying to make Molly understand how difficult her marriage and life were for her to endure. Read a video review of 'Four Good Days,' starring Glenn Close and Mila . Her addiction started when she was 17. Eli Saslow is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for The Washington Post. With doctors writing over 200 million opiate prescriptions, the epidemic seems never to end. No single figure in the film is ultimately responsible for Mollys addiction and the havoc it has wrought on her family. MUST CREDIT: Photo by Bonnie Jo Mount-The Washington Post Photo Gallery. Once shes convinced that Molly is devoted to getting clean, Deb helps her abstain from heroin prior to receiving an injection that will prevent Molly from feeling the effects of illegal drugs. A monthly shot of a drug called naltrexone renders the effects of the opiates useless, as it blocks its effects. What if Deb had remained in her unhappy marriage? While some characters are presented with more or less admirable attributes, no one is scapegoated as the villainand rightly so. A Story of Truth, Lies, and an American Addiction, the feature comes from Eli Saslow, a Pulitzer-Prize winning writer and Washington Post reporter who also helped write the screenplay for Four Good Days. 1,613, This story has been shared 1,541 times. You can start a new subscription or pay for a current one by calling our circulation number at 770-253-1576. What stands out so starkly, and painfully, in Four Good Days is that Mollys family is left entirely alone to deal with these immense social problems. Please feel free to send any feedback on our new site to support@newnan.com. The article was adapted into a screenplay by director Rodrigo Garcia and Eli Saslow. But her instincts get the better of her judgment as she tries to rebuild their trust. Eli Saslow is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist for The Washington Post. Unbeknownst to Molly, Deb spends the whole night watching over her daughter from a kitchen window. She insists that she is ready to be sober and begs her mother to allow her to stay for a few days before going to detox. In the new film, Molly learns she must stay sober for four more days in order to be eligible to receive an opiate antagonist shot, which will stop her body from being able to get high and, hopefully, help her stay clean. Lead actor Glenn Close delved into the issues of motherhood to get a perspective for her character. Glenn Close is the most nominated actor without winning the award. A RottenTomatoes.com Tomatometer-approved critic, Jonathan W. Hickman, is also an entertainment lawyer, college professor, novelist, and filmmaker. For more information about Jonathan, visit: FilmProductionLaw.com or DailyFIlmFix.com. Through it all, her mother was by her side. Four Good Daysis based onEli Saslow'sWashington Postarticle "'How's Amanda?' A suspicious Deb questions the call, they argue, and Molly leaves with Sean. Even the dialogue may evoke dj vu. The Washington Post is providing this news free to all readers as a public service. International Committee of the Fourth International, The US opioid crisis in the era of COVID-19, US drug overdose deaths soared to record highs in 2019. Libby even attended anti-drug rallies and forced Amanda to take monthly drug tests. Four days left to go, three days, two, and as the hours . Back at home, Deb reveals she was very unhappy with Molly's father, Dale, as she felt forced into marriage after becoming pregnant with Molly's older sister, Ashley, and this led to her walking out on the family. IsFour Good Daysa true story? Follow this story and more by signing up for national breaking news email alerts. Saslow co-wrote the movie's screenplay with director Rodrigo Garca. In an attempt to stop using and stay clean, she moves in with her mom and her stepfather, but also decides to try out. Or if her father had just contacted his daughter? Glenn Close, left, and Mila Kunis star in "Four Good Days," based on a true story by Pulitzer Prize winner Eli Saslow. : ; : Eli Saslow,Rodrigo Garca,Amanda Wendler; : . However, she felt that it was a part of her responsibility as a mother to be there for her daughter. Based on the true story by Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post writer Eli Saslow, Four Good Days stars Glenn Close as Deb, the mother to Kunis' Molly. If you can read this, you don't need glasses. Molly has always held this abandonment against Deb, and blames her addiction on these events. Four Good Days is based on a 2016 Washington Post news story entitled Hows Amanda? written by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eli Saslow. This article was published more than1 year ago, Anyone who saw the movie Beautiful Boy the fact-based 2018 addiction drama starring Steve Carell and Timothe Chalamet as a father and son struggling with the younger mans drug dependency will already be familiar with the narrative rhythms of the similarly themed Four Good Days. Much like Felix Van Groeningens movie, based on dueling addiction memoirs by Nic Sheff and his father, journalist David Sheff, Four Good Days tells a lightly fictionalized version of a harrowing true story, first presented by Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow in his powerful 2016 article about a Michigan mothers efforts to help her adult daughter kick heroin. The Book of Eli is a movie starring Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, and Ray Stevenson. So far, there is no book thats directly related toFour Good Days. The ebb and flow of the new film arent new or, sadly, even uncommon. A Story of Truth, Lies, and an American Addiction. Before you watch Four Good Days, heres what you need to know about the true story behind the emotional drama. Powerhouse performances from Glenn Close and Mila Kunis anchor director Rodrigo Garcas poignant and unpredictable chronicle of mother and daughter fighting to regain the love and trust that once held them together. Her story was first told by Eli Saslow in a Washington Post piece headlined "How's Amanda? A Story of Truth, Lies, and an American Addiction, that appeared in the Washington Post on July 23, 2016. Announcement. "Four Good Days," starring Mila Kunis and Glenn Close and based on the reporting of Washington Post national reporter Eli Saslow, tells the story of a young addict who must not use. And the way that doctors have been taught to prescribe for pain drove a lot of the opioid epidemic. Although at first reluctant, they are happy to see her and make the most of their time together. However, it has considerable side effects if opiates are still present in the body. In a story that too many people know too . Film director Rodrigo Garca collaborated with Saslow to adapt true-life events into this narrative feature. Eli Saslow is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who recently turned screenwriter, adapting a 2016 feature he wrote for the Washington Post about a mother trying to help her heroin-addicted daughter get clean into Four Good Days, a moving drama starring Mila Kunis and Glenn Close. Four months later, Molly is still living with Deb, visits her children regularly, is getting ready for her next shot, and is on her way to recovery. This causes Deb to openly express her optimism and hopes that this time, Molly will finally recover. More Details. Filed Under: Flickering Myth TV, Interviews, Martin Carr, Movies Tagged With: Eli Saslow, Four Good Days, Glenn Close, Mila Kunis. His singular piece of narrative journalism on the escalating opioid epidemic in America inspired Four Good. [6], On April 23, 2021, "Somehow You Do", the lead single from the movie's soundtrack, was released. Dramas, Independent Movies. The central tension of the story concerns Molly, who, after fourteen unsuccessful rehab admissions, turns to her mother for help. Cannons Avengers: What If Cannon Films Did the Marvel Cinematic Universe? At the center Molly receives the opioid antagonist shot, but due to her having drugs in her system, she goes into acute withdrawal, and they rush to the hospital. 1,241, This story has been shared 1,100 times. Four Good Daysstars Mila Kunis, Glenn Close, and Stephen Root. Four Good Days, starring Mila Kunis and Glenn Close and is based on the reporting of Washington Post national reporter Eli Saslow, tells the story of a young addict who must not use drugs for four days to receive a promising treatment. Mila Kunis, who plays the role of the daughter, worked her way through these details and explored the filial dynamics accentuated by the addiction. In the end, Deb calmly tells her daughter, I am so sorry for causing you so much pain. 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Molly no longer has custody. Lies, pleading, desperate promises and relapse are among the patterns of behavior on the part of Mila Kuniss addict Molly; with repeated capitulation, followed by zero tolerance, and then more capitulation on the part of Glenn Closes weary but still caring mother Deb. [10] In March 2021, Vertical Entertainment acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, and set it for an April 30, 2021, limited release prior to a May 21, 2021, video on demand release. It was announced in May 2019 that Glenn Close and Mila Kunis were set to star in the film. However, she must stay off any drugs for an additional four days before it is safe for her to receive the first shot, and then expect an additional shot each month. Four Good Daysis about a young woman who is battling a heroin addiction. Four Good Days is based on Eli Saslow's Washington Post article "'How's Amanda?' A story of truth, lies and an American addiction," which chronicled a woman named Amanda Wendler 's experience with . That is, in order to qualify, Molly has to stay sober for another four days. What We Know, The 8 Best Soundbars To Buy In 2023, Per Experts, Chris Rock Jokes About Watching Emancipation to See Will Smith Getting Whipped In Advance of Netflix Special: Report. ), Why Beautiful Boy director Felix Van Groeningen is fascinated by the fragility of families. Vertical Entertainment/Tribune News Service. Ever since the first trailer dropped for Four Good Days,interest has been steadily bubbling up around the stirring addiction drama, which stars Mila Kunis as Molly, a recovering addict who moves in with her mom, Deb (Glenn Close), to try and stay clean. Deb is clearly hurt. 'The Mandalorian' Season 3 Episode Guide: How Many Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Will There Be on Disney+? That tidal pull Deb feels part love, part mistrust, part guilt is palpable, as palpable as the hunger of the monkey on Mollys back. Eli Saslow is known for Four Good Days (2020), Colossus (2018) and The Daily Show (1996). Movie titles, images, etc. If you did not receive your newspaper on Thursday and Monday after your mail is delivered, we will issue a credit to your account or mail another copy. Addressing high school students in a health and wellness class, she explains, I have degraded myself for drugs in ways in ways that you dont want to know. One student interrupts Molly, boasting that she would never let herself get that far into addiction. It hurts where it should, yet lands with a touch of hope. 2,381, This story has been shared 2,170 times. 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The Essential Horror-Comedies of the 21st Century, Terrible Remake Ideas: Past, Present, Future, Modern Viking Movies To Watch If You Enjoyed The Northman, The Most Incredibly Annoying Movie Characters, Every Major Horror Movie Coming Out In 2023. Every scene of the film reflects reality, and as Amanda Wendler (the daughter) puts it, And realitys a trigger.. Garcia noted that problems with no solutions hold a fascination for him. Downloads only available on ad-free plans. The new trailer features a very emotional performance from theBlack Swanactress as she fights against withdrawal symptoms and comes face to face with all the things that her addiction has taken from her, including the trust of her parents and custody of her children. Playing out over several days, as the films title implies, Four Good Days is another intimate snapshot of Americas opioid crisis. Fill out the form below to submit your letter to the editor. She cant enjoy 15 minutes of downtime, we learn, because Molly could be looking for cash to buy a fix. Meet Cleo Anthony, Netflix's 'Money Shot' Documentary Trailer Shines A Harsh Light On Pornhub, The "Most Trafficked Website In The World", 'The Skinny Shot' on Hulu Is An Ozempic "Documentary" That Plays More Like A Commercial, Where Is Estonia Located? All rights reserved. Watch offline. More details. The characters are collectively burdened with a sea of regret that stem from their love for Molly and their desire to help. Its a scene that seems to run on a loop. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. What sets Four Good Days apart from the many other films of its ilk are Close and Kunis, who sharpen and elevate its well-worn contours with vivid performances that are honest and grounded. On Monday morning, Molly arrives at the house urging Deb to get ready so they will not miss her appointment at the detox facility.