All through the movie he has an impressive physique. Like he has been working out with a personal trainer.
Alcoholics don't look like they just stepped out of Gold's Gym.
Undeserved Best Actor Oscar imo.
"Aerial says we are cut off."
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"Actually, my childish friend, they come in all shapes and sizes. Some are fitness buffs and look quite good. Many hollywood stars maintain their physique even with booze problems."
Incorrect. He was a falling-down drunk my sage and adult friend. He would be bloated or emaciated from his lifestyle. Genetics come into play but you don't have bulging biceps and six-pack abs living that life.
This was also true with Jim Thorpe- All American http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0043687/ with herculean Burt Lancaster portraying Jim Thorpe throughout his life including the end when he was alcoholic.
"You are either slightly retarded or lack life experience/common sense."
That's funny. I was thinking the same thing about you. I guess we have the same opinion but in reverse.
pwned
Well, this was a film, not a PBS documentary. While it is true that end-stage alcoholics are jaundiced and bloated, making it that realistic would have detracted from the movie. Pretty much every movie takes a little artistic license.
“There are no ordinary moments. There is always something going on.” – Peaceful Warrior
I don't think we know how long he was drinking in the movie, maybe a couple months and that's what led to his firing, but for all the audience knows he could have only been drinking for a month or two because of some emotional trauma?
I need to rewatch but do we know for sure it was a divorce that led to him burning everything? Could it have been a car accident that killed his entire family?
Going to have to take the DVD out again soon.
Cage looked in good shape here? Then you would probably think I look like Mr. Universe.
"Could it have been a car accident that killed his entire family?"
No. His wife took the kid and left him. Because he was a drunk. The character is an unrepentant alcoholic, that's the whole point of the movie. No bigger picture. That's what makes it so good, because it doesn't have any sappy melodramatic backstory excuses.
This is a great movie about the horrors of alcoholism. Ben looked to have it all- a nice family, good career, smart and talented, friends; and in your opinion, very good looking. Alcoholism takes away all of that. Alcoholism is a progressive disease that takes many, many years to get to that stage. His tolerance was very high and he couldn't live without it. The withdrawals associated with alcoholism are the worst. He would probably get the DTs and have a seizue if he tried to quit drinking on his own. He probably had a wet brain also, with all the talking to himself and whatnot. Alcoholics are not very pleasant people to be around at all, and although I agree this is glamourised somewhat through Holloywood, the only reason Sera stuck around with him was because her life was, in effect, as messed up as his. Ben was never there to take advantage of her or treat her badly and that is why she fell for him.
share" Alcoholics are not very pleasant people to be around at all"
generalise much? i've known many an alcoholic that I would trust before society driven muppets
"Whatever hit it stripped the Sh$t out of it"
@championjr1- Have you ever lived with an alcoholic? This movie perfectly potratys what it is like to live with an alcoholic. Sera saw Ben destroying himself and wanted him to get help. It is a lot harder to accept one to be an alcoholic than you would think, unless you have experienced it. I'm sure if a sibling of yours or spouse was drinking themselves to death and they didn't want to get help, and you could see them doing that, you would not feel the same way as your comment says you do.
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You don't know what you are talking about. Hardcore alcoholics do get the majority of their calories from alcohol and not food. As the liver fails, bilirubin builds up in the bloodstream causing the skin to turn yellow and also as the liver fails, fluids that would normally pass through the liver are shunted around it and those fluids builds up in the body....otherwise known as ascites.
How do I know all this? I farking lived through it. I was Nic Cages character, but at the penultimate moment where he kept going, I stopped and got my life back.
“There are no ordinary moments. There is always something going on.” – Peaceful Warrior
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No my friend..you're SO wrong!
I've not had a drink since 2001, & stopped because my liver was failing & both kidneys were shutting down. I used to drink VAST amounts of every kind of booze you could mention. Nothing in my appearance gave the immpression i was alcoholic, that's the verdict of family & friends by the way! No blue nose..no red eyes..no slurred speech..no shakes. I worked as a building worker full time, & drank myself into oblivion 7 nights of the week for 20 years!
People assume you can spot a drunk, but you can't..not always! I was dying from the stuff & noone knew!
(apart from me!)
I'm so glad you're sober now. My Mom was a functional alcoholic for 35 years on and off (mostly on). I could always tell when she had been drinking, but then my survival as a kid was dependant on it. I don't know how many of the people she met during the day could tell, or her coworkers. I never asked. I didn't want to out her as a drunk. Since she mostly drank wine, the effects took longer than hard booze. She did have health complications, but no ascites or kidney failure. I know what you are saying. Keep working the steps, bro.
shareThank you Buddy!
I will!
Well, the rock musician Warren Zevon was a big drunk. One of his acquaintances actually said that the only time he'd seen someone drink the way Warren did was while watching this film. And yet Zevon was in quite a good shape, not exactly athletic but well-built and thin.
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