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My Name Is Bill W.

1989 · 100 min

A sober, earnest portrait of addiction and recovery that feels like a well-acted television drama, moving but rarely flashy.

Directed by
Daniel Petrie
Genres
Drama, Tv movie
Overview
Based on the true story of Bill W. (James Woods), a successful stock broker whose life falls apart after the stock crash of the 20's and how he comes to grips with his alcoholism. Along with a fellow alcoholic (James Garner) he forms a support group that would eventually become Alcoholics Anonymous.

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Directed by
Daniel Petrie
Genres
Drama, Tv movie
In your watch list

How it feels

Written by AI. It can be wrong.

Tone
  • melancholicstrength 2 of 3
  • earneststrength 2 of 3
  • darkstrength 1 of 3
  • warmstrength 1 of 3
Pacing
measured, 2 of 4, from slow-burn to relentless
Attention
engaged, 3 of 4, from background-friendly to demanding
Themes
  • addiction
  • redemption
  • friendship
  • family
  • guilt
Places
  • big city
  • home
Era
period
Audience
adult
Form
  • true story
Content intensity
  • Gore none
  • Language mild
  • Violence mild
  • Sex mild
All scales, 0 to 10
Scales, 0 to 10
ScaleValue0 to 10
Action1
Horror1
Humour2
Realism9
Romance3
Tension5
Darkness7
Complexity5
Emotional weight8

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Cast

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Streaming data from JustWatch.TMDB

Details

Genres
drama, tv movie
Directed by
Daniel Petrie
Written by
William G. Borchert
Starring
James Woods, JoBeth Williams, James Garner, Gary Sinise, George Coe, Robert Harper, Ray Reinhardt, Fritz Weaver
Music
Laurence Rosenthal
Cinematography
Neil Roach
Runtime
100 min
Country
United States of America
Languages
English

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