Identify My Disease!

I have seen this move twice, and can identify with Bill coming in drunk after swearing off the sauce many times. The scene where he gets money from Lois to buy more boose comes vividly to mind, and always reminds me of the line in Alcholics Anonymous where he talks of stealing from his wifes slender purse. Today I feel that you can take the alcohol out of my life to clear my mind and body of the substance, but we need recovery,unity and service to find a Higher Power to help clear my mind of wrong thinking. My actions are changed to a better lifestyle as a result of the God given program, which the co-founders recieved and carried out. I'm so glad they had the foresight to create The Alcoholic Foundation so this gift could keep saving lives.

Hope for all.

A good look into the beginnings of the modern day 12 Step program. Recognized now as an effective way in which to confront addictions/issues on many fronts and not just alcohol alone. Prior to this (November 1934), and apart from Divine intervention, the end for most alcoholics was (is) found in, "jails, institutions or death". One of the scenes in the movie that stands out is when Bill calmly acknowledges that although alcohol is ruining his entire life all he can think of is another drink. Contrast this to a subsequent scene when Bill and Dr. Bob first meet. Bob states that others have tried to help him but to no avail, etc. Bill interjects and tells him that he isn't there to help Bob but rather himself. This gets Bob's attention. 'My Name Is Bill W.', is a story of struggle, hope and ultimately of triumph and whose message is available to anyone who would yield themselves to a new but simple approach to everyday living. Theories can be disputed but results can't be denied. A great many people over the years have had their lives touched by the work of Bill W. and Dr. Bob, who themselves had also discovered, "the easier, softer way".

The "ROOTS" of "Alcoholics Anonymous"

Are you an alocoholic? Is someone you love an alcoholic?

It really doesn't matter. This movie, regrettably is available only on VHS, will give you insight, understanding, and hope. Hope, that most fragile of words, is the basis of this incredible made-for-TV motion picture.

Bill Wilson comes home from World War I a hero. He then conquers Wall Street. He marries the love of his life, Lois. He then discovers both a new god, a new lover, a new idol; the bottle. This unflinching film looks at the descent of of alcoholic into hell, and his journey back, guided, not by the spirit of Virgil, but by another alcoholic, Doctor Bob. Together, they find a "cure" for an "incurable" disease. The disease of alcoholism.

Neither could cure themselves, but together, they could find the way out of hell into if not paradise, at least life; life on life's terms.

This film has been called the AA "Roots." I won't take up that guantlet. This film stands alone. The performances by James Woods, JoBeth Williams and James Garner stand on their own merits. It tells the story of one man's descent into the hell of addiction < and YES, alcoholism is an addiction >, and his return to the land of the living.

Woods plays Bill W. with remarkable restraint, not denigrating into the hystrionics of Jack Lemmon in "The Lost Weekend"; as brilliant and well-meaning as that film is. Nor does this movie fall into high camp, as did "Reefer Madness" in the late Thirties.

Instead, in "My Name Is Bill W.", we see a man driven to the depths of despair. A man beaten is beaten into the dust. To quote Cecil B. DeMille, "the dust from which prophets and holy men are formed. . ."

Yet, this film is not preachy. It tells a story. A true story, all the more frightening, because it is true.

Watch this movie. Listen to its message of hope, of truth, of honesty, openness, and willingness. Hear the story of the damned, who somehow, someway, found salvation.

You will be moved. I promise you.