2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Usamah Harvey The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Lark W While acknowledging that Bill Wilson was not perfect (um ... who is?), his contribution to alcoholic mankind was out of this world. I am speaking from someone who appreciates the history of Alcoholics Anonymous. It is quite fascinating. I've been to Dr. Bob and Anne's house in Akron, Ohio; A.A. World Services in New York several times; and Lois and Bill's Bedford Hills home - Stepping Stones. I enjoyed seeing the Bible where Bill wrote his pledges ~ at one of these places (been awhile; can't recall where.)The movie touched my heart. I appreciated the brilliance in its creation. Winona Ryder and Barry Pepper were outstanding as well. I highly recommend it to anyone.

michaelgm After I watched this eagerly awaited, but ultimately disappointing film, one of my first thoughts was that this film needed its own version of Al-Anon. Lois Wilson, like many spouses of users, spent all of her energies dealing with the fall-out of living with an alcoholic; did the movie have to do the same thing? When one has less than two hours to tell a complex story about a fascinating woman, did we really need an hour and twenty or thirty minutes of the constant cycle of dankness, shame, recriminations, and broken promises? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure this harrowing cycle repeats itself in every user's home--it's just that when there was so little time to tell such a complicated story, I would have preferred less binges and more character development. I didn't get a good sense of what drew these two together in the first place. There were so few scenes other than those of "saintly wife props up troubled husband," that I just didn't get a sense of them as a married couple. I didn't feel Pepper and Ryder had that much chemistry together. Since much was made of the fact that the real Lois Wilson was 3 or 4 years older than Bill, it didn't help the situation to cast an actress with such a youthful persons with an actor who always looked appreciably older than her--and, yes, I know drink ages you, but he looked a lot older than her at the wedding. Hallmark seems to have lost its mojo.Poster formerly known as FilmNutgm

GreatPersonality Like the last reviewer, I was also expecting at least a hint at Bill W's notorious womanizing, and it was disappointing that Lois W's experience wasn't fully represented. But I think the movie was successful in capturing the ongoing destructiveness of the disease and eventual dissolution of hope, as well as the expectation that love can fix everything. The acting was real. Winona Ryder's beauty is toned down but she is still beautiful and also believable, and--like most alcoholics I know--Barry Pepper's Bill W was mesmerizing and charismatic. When he's on screen, you can't take your eyes off him. It's a beautiful movie to watch, with lush sets and costumes. The pacing is good, as well.

monalisasilvaggio As a recovered alcoholic and student of AA history, I found myself shaking my head with both disappointment and amusement as I watched this movie. In addition to the overly melodramatic tone, the story left out several critical facts, among them: (1) Bill W. was an absolutely notorious womanizer, not only while drinking but also after he got sober, even going so far as to leave 10% of his Big Book royalties to his favorite mistress, Helen W.; (2) the writing of the Big Book was a collaboration, and several chapters were not written by Bill W., although he alone got royalties; (3) the chapter in the BB entitled "To Wives", which was presented as having been written by Lois, was actually written by Bill, who apparently did not believe that she could do it justice--this infuriated Lois (and one can only imagine her thoughts about Bill's bequest to his mistress).To my mind, leaving those things out turned this story into nothing more than Hallmark's usual pabulum. I would vastly have preferred the truth, which is that Lois never stopped putting up with an incredible degree of selfishness and arrogance from Bill, because he cheated on her for their entire marriage. Not only that, but his predatory behavior was a big problem in early AA, so much so that a "Founders Watch" committee was formed in an attempt to keep him from hitting on the attractive, vulnerable women coming to the program for help. The sickening sweetness with which Bill and Lois's relationship was portrayed did nothing to edify: it was like a typical, predicable, and ultimately untruthful AA lead in which the alcoholic finds AA, receives the "miracle of sobriety" and lives happy ever after.The one thing I did like about the movie was that it presented Al-Anon for the most part as what Al-Anon actually is: a 12 step program where members work exactly the same steps as AA. Many people, including mental health professionals, mistakenly believe that Al-Anon exists to help family members understand what the alcoholic is going through, or to help him or her quit drinking, when nothing could be further from the truth.