Don Birnem (Ray Milland) is a struggling writer, and a drunk. He needs the booze to live. But it's consuming him faster than he realizes.
His brother, Wick, is going to take him on a trip to the country, to a farm, where Don can further dry out. Don's girlfriend, (Jane Wyman) also thinks it's a good idea.
However, Don needs a quick drink. He's desperate. Managing to ditch his brother and girl, telling them they'll take a later train to the farm, Don runs to the store and buys two bottles of booze, thinking he'll take them with him to the farm. But by the time he returns home, his brother has left for the farm without him and his girl is gone.
Weather it be pawning his only possessions or stealing money, Don manages to get enough booze in himself that he forgets all but one of his problems: where he is going to get his next drink from.
The weekend becomes lost in a swirl of booze and nightmares Don is sure to forget.
Masterfully and yet sensitively directed by Billy Wilder, The Lost Weekend is an emotional roller coaster ride right up until "the end" eventually flashes on the screen. The Lost Weekend doesn't try to be funny, or make light of Don's alcoholism. The film's powerful message tells us that Don Birnem is sick - like someone with cancer or HIV - and that people like Don need help... they need friends and support.
In Leaving Las Vegas (another incredibly touching movie about a drunk, the real Best Picture of 1995), the main character, Ben Sanderson, goes to Vegas to drink himself to death. In The Lost Weekend, Don Birnem doesn't want to do that at all... ...until he knows that death is his only way out.
We don't want to see Don go down that path, however. We don't want to see him end up like so many others before him. We want to see Don get better and take back his life.
Stark, real and uncompromising, The Lost Weekend paints a haunting picture of one man's psychological demons, his turmoil and his pains. The film lets us know that there are forces in the human body at work that can over-power even the strongest of men.
Ned the bartender sum's it all up best: "One's too many and a hundred's not enough."
Plot: 
Haunting and uncompromising, The Lost Weekend is a case study on alcoholism and it's effects on the human body. Though tame compared to Leaving Las Vegas, it is still horrific in it's portrayal of the sickness. Director Billy Wilder pushed the film to its limits, never backing down from the edge of dramatic tension. Although the film has a "happily ever after" ending, this does not detract from the overall greatness of the film.
Visual Effects: 
Sound:
Character Development:
The Lost Weekend sends us along on a bumpy ride - this ride being Don Birnem's self-induced downward spiral into oblivion. We follow Don's every move from being a drunk to becoming a suicidal drunk. Does Don learn anything on this bumpy ride? Sure he does. He learns that he can't control his urges. That he's never going to get better.
Clearly illustrated, Don's downward spiral is incredibly depressing and so believable that is scary as hell.
Atmosphere:
This isn't a movie for everyone as it deals with a very touchy subject. But it is so good that you should watch it to see Milland's incredible performance.
Realism:
One of the reasons why The Lost Weekend won Best Picture was because it is so realistic. The scenes in the hospital were all filmed in the real Drunk's hospital in New York, and Milland actually said that the screams we hear he actually heard spending a night at the same real-life hospital.
Warren�s Rating:
Movies it beat out for Best Picture:
Anchors Aweigh; The Bells of St. Mary's; *The Lost Weekend; Mildred Pierce; Spellbound
9.14/10 Is the movie worth your time to watch?
24-10-05
Age at win: 41
Nominated for: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Don Birnem, The lost Weekend
Nomination: 1/1 (acting), 1/1 (total); Win: Only
Ray Milland was fabulous as the drunken Don Birnem, and his screen partner, Jane Wyman, should have won an Oscar nomination for her performance. Although Milland wasn't as good as Nicholas Cage's Ben Sanderson in Leaving Las Vegas, Milland was very good in his own way. Milland gave a very emotional and powerful performance that, back in the day, was hailed as powerful and haunting.
Billy Wilder stated after reading the book that he knew, whoever played the drunk would win the Oscar. Anyone could have taken the role and won the Oscar, sure. But can you imagine anyone other than Ray Milland in the role now?
Milland's performance really strikes a cord with many people. It really hits home. It's films like these that really make people wonder. Sure, the people don't care. But at least these movies get the message out and get people taking.
30-05-04
