Four Good Days                 4 stars

I took in Four Good Days, a movie that previously appeared at Sundance and that deals with that old subject of drug addiction and the effect it has on those around the addict. In this drama by Rodrigo Garcia we are graced with two excellent actresses: Glenn Close as Deb, the addict’s mother who has been burned too many times by her daughter’s lies and thievery, and Mila Kunis as Molly, the addict with a heroin habit that has lasted for ten years and has lost everything including her marriage and her children. The movie starts with the two meeting and Molly begging for help from Deb with the shocking appearance of her skin and hair making it clear what her life has been like, but Deb refusing her daughter because she has seen it all before and won’t be fooled again. But finally she relents, taking Molly to a detox facility. Once there the doctor informs them there is a drug, Naltrexone that will neutralize the addiction for a month, but Molly must be drug free for four more days before taking it. And her only option is to stay with Mom and her husband Chris, (Stephen Root) until she can take the drug. Here is where the drama sets in. Deb knows she cannot trust Molly and lets her stay in the garage where a door alarm will sound whenever the door opens. We know that Molly could relapse at any time, but we still root for her hoping these two can find a way. And we really feel for Deb who is in anguish every step of the way over the hard choices she has to make. Most aspects of this movie are familiar as we get more background about the characters and how they got to this point. The desire to blame others for their problems is a constant theme. The story is based on the lives of actual people who we see at the end. It is the performances of the two principal actors that make the story especially compelling. Incidentally, Glenn Close and Rodrigo Garcia previously worked together on Albert Knobs in 2011.