Fans of Mansfield and Randall's comedy work would/will be surprised to see what good dramatic actors they are. Especially Mansfield--though she has a fairly small part here. She's terrific, perhaps the most real she ever was on film.
The episode seems frequently plot less, just scene after scene of Tony getting or being drunk--at first it seems like this might be played for laughs--as the stock music suggests--but it's not.
The whole thing revolves--though it doesn't seem to move at all--around an endless series of flashbacks to how his character literally lost his wife one drunken night. Especially overlong and painful is a scene with him trying to sell an ad campaign for a stupid looking space age car. It is painful to watch Randall in a good way an uncomfortable way in these situations but they just go on and on and on. The stuff involving his work isn't very convincing.
I suppose this is all a kind of Hitchcock DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES but it doesn't really work as you just start to dislike Randall's character and, though the end is horrifying, they just lose any thread of suspense or crime for far too long before that. What little does happen actually gets a bit confusing as each scene goes on for far too long.
You can look elsewhere for better suspense stories and certainly for better addiction dramas. The script is the fault here.
Yes, a shorter running time would have helped. Fans of the lead actors tune in to watch them but you'll tune out before it's over or probably wish you had.
Hithcock's "serious" wrap up comments still contain a grain of humor, as does a funny jab at network TV shows that starts the episode.
The episode seems frequently plot less, just scene after scene of Tony getting or being drunk--at first it seems like this might be played for laughs--as the stock music suggests--but it's not.
The whole thing revolves--though it doesn't seem to move at all--around an endless series of flashbacks to how his character literally lost his wife one drunken night. Especially overlong and painful is a scene with him trying to sell an ad campaign for a stupid looking space age car. It is painful to watch Randall in a good way an uncomfortable way in these situations but they just go on and on and on. The stuff involving his work isn't very convincing.
I suppose this is all a kind of Hitchcock DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES but it doesn't really work as you just start to dislike Randall's character and, though the end is horrifying, they just lose any thread of suspense or crime for far too long before that. What little does happen actually gets a bit confusing as each scene goes on for far too long.
You can look elsewhere for better suspense stories and certainly for better addiction dramas. The script is the fault here.
Yes, a shorter running time would have helped. Fans of the lead actors tune in to watch them but you'll tune out before it's over or probably wish you had.
Hithcock's "serious" wrap up comments still contain a grain of humor, as does a funny jab at network TV shows that starts the episode.