Having read the poor rating that IMDb users gave this movie, it would be unjust of me to not chime in on this; I just felt that I had to say that this film deserved a much better score than it seems most people have given it here. If you require your movies to have explosions or nudity, then you won't like it; however if good acting and compelling dialogue that strives to touch upon deeper issues than most films dare to reach, then check this fine film out. Its' short run time flew by, leaving me wanting more from these 3 fine performers, and if any part of your life or of those you love has been touched by alcoholism I would say without reservation that it's a must see.

I missed this when it was on BBC2 last year because I forgot to set the video, or rather I messed up setting the video and recorded something else instead. It took till recently to get the chance to see it again and so I did. The film is based on a play about addiction and sees recovering alcoholic and poet Paul Peplow interviewing millionaire businessman Victor Quinn. The interview is a flop but it leads Victor to employ Paul in a job that Paul quickly learns is unimportant and not something he is suited for. As with the interview, Victor continues to needle Paul about his addiction and his supposed cure. Later Paul meets Victor's wife Elsa, herself a former addict, and the two fall for one another behind the back of this powerful man.Although I have not done a particularly good job of capturing it, this film did sound interesting to me and the cast especially seemed to offer much. At times the film appeared to be hitting this potential, with the tightly scripted and fast-paced dialogue that reminded me of David Mamet. Certainly the subject appeared to be of interest but yet somehow I found myself more interested in the occasionally pattern of speech rather than the characters or what was going on. In essence the subject of addiction and desire appears to be being discussed while also running it through the narrative but in reality it doesn't ever make it work as a discussion or a theme because it never feels real and never convinced me as a viewer to the point where I would have cared. We never really understand the motivations of the characters or the relationships between them – everything happens to fast or without any real reason, whether it is the probing/tempting of Paul by Vince or the sudden love between Paul and Elsa. This sort of atmosphere continues until the film reaches an end, which itself is quit unsatisfactory.This is not to take anything away from the performances though because they are roundly good and it is only the material that lets them down. Considine, Pryce and even Thurman all play their parts well and they deal well with the pace of the dialogue. In each of them there is enough to suggest to me that they knew their characters and understood what was happening behind and beyond the words – however this is not something that they are able to bring to the screen and, as such, the film still struggles even though it has an impressive trio in what is essentially a three-hander.It is a shame because the quality appears to be there and the potential is certainly there but the film cannot make it work. Maybe I would feel the same about the play, I'm not sure and may never know but certainly here nothing really ever rang true for me and the "discussion" in and around the nature of addiction wasn't strong or interesting enough to engage me, mainly because of the lack of any sort of clarity or focal point. Interesting for the flow of dialogue but flawed as a film.

My Zinc Bed is a film written by David Hare, based on his play of the same name, which meditates on addiction, fidelity and friendship. It has a couple of very good performances, but a weak third lead and ambiguous themes keep it from achieving greatness. The film focuses on three people whose lives intersect over the course of a summer: Paul Peplow, Victor Quinn and Elsa Quinn, played by Paddy Considine, Jonathan Pryce and Uma Thurman respectively. Paul is poet and recovering alcoholic who is working in journalism to pay the bills. He is tapped to interview millionaire software magnate Victor, who eventually offers him a job. Victor is much more interested in Paul's alcoholism and his experiences with AA than in talking about himself, or in much else really. This causes some tension with Paul, particularly because Victor is very critical of the whole concept of AA, several times referring to it as a "cult" and claiming that those who attend meetings are "addicted" to the group. Things only get more complex when by chance Paul meets Elsa, Victor's much younger wife. The two develop an instant rapport, and end their first meeting with a passionate kiss, which Victor almost walks in on. Elsa herself was once an alcoholic, though she has eschewed the way of AA, apparently at the behest of her husband, and appears at least to be able to take the occasional drink with no ill consequences. As the film continues, the lives of these three become more and more entwined, which causes continued pain for all three. The wobbly third leg of this stool, however, is Uma Thurman. Her first problem is her accent, which is presumably Danish since Victor mentions meeting her for the first time in Copenhagen. The accent is clearly forced and seems to shift throughout the film, often sounding as if it might be Scottish or British. Perhaps straining for the accent retarded her usually competent acting abilities, because Thurman fails to reach the emotional levels necessary for her performance to be effective. The obvious gap between Pryce and Considine on the one hand and Thurman on the other makes for some uncomfortable viewing at times. Another issue, apart from the performances, is that the characters themselves are not particularly likable. It is possible that this was not a priority for the producers, but it is difficult to empathize with any of the three main characters. Paul is weak and inconstant. Pryce is manipulative at times and judgmental at others. Elsa is self deceiving and whiny. These people are interesting, but do not invite the viewer to invest himself in their fate. This lack of care for what happens to these three removes much of the power of the film's denouement. As for the exploration of alcoholism, and in particular the philosophy behind AA, the theme of the play could be best summed up by these words of Victor's, later repeated by Paul. "If you were cured, you would be cured of the desire. And who wants to be cured of desire?" This may reveal some inherent defects in twelve step programs, and AA in particular, but it leaves a lot unanswered and even unaddressed. Whether foregoing alcohol is worth the effort is at best skirted around. Paul is unable to write poetry when sober, and turns out brilliant verse when on the sauce, though he is then also subject to the humiliations of alcohol that he himself admits. Elsa as much as admits that her abandoning of AA has not cured her of alcoholism, and that she often spends nights in misery. What is being said here? It is not clear. This ambiguity leaves the viewer more confused than moved at the end of the film.

I watched My Zinc Bed last night on BBC2. I had high hopes for this one-off drama but quite frankly it was a truly awful piece of Television. It was clearly made for American TV. Everything about it felt fake: the over the top acting, the shots and the music. It was a adapted from a play, but why? It was boring.The story focuses on an alcoholic poet (Paddy Considine) who starts working for a millionaire businessman (Jonathan Pryce) after they meet for an interview. The poet then meets his wife (Uma Thurman) and the pair fall in love.Every conversation was about the same thing. Being addicted to drink. The characters just kept winding each other up, which led to me being wound up and wanting to stop watching it. It tried to be so clever and intelligent but it was just dull. I think it failed because it went for the "less is more" strategy: one conversation between Uma Thurman (what attracted her to this TV movie in the first place?) and Paddy Considine led to them kissing and then being in love. And the only way that the audience knew that was through the weak narration.Surely the BBC can do better in future.