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Days Of Wine And Roses (1962)
The Movie Drinker: Joe Clay (Jack Lemmon)
How Drunk? So drunk that even when he’s wasted, he just wants more. Hence a scene in which Joe roots around in his father-in-law’s greenhouse for more swill-worthy stuffs.
Convincing? Lemmon’s never better, subtly layering his performance with tangible spikes of tragedy. Heart-breaking.
Next Day Regrets: Loads of them, undoubtedly. It’s pretty much the reason he’s drinking to begin with.
Bad Santa (2003)
The Movie Drinker: Willie T Stokes (Billy Bob Thornton)
How Drunk? The kind of drunk that results in seeing invisible burros, then attempting to fight said burro in front of a queue of expectant children. Before falling flat on your face.
Convincing? We’ll give an emphatic nod and leave it at that.
Next Day Regrets: From this Santa? He’s bad, he doesn’t have regrets.
What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? (1962)
The Movie Drinker: Baby Jane Hudson (Bette Davis)
How Drunk? Cackling, destructive, malicious drunk. Jane makes her disabled sister’s life a misery, her booze-fuelled actions including serving poor Blanche her pet bird for dinner.
Convincing? Hell yeah. It’s common knowledge that Davis and co-star Joan Crawford hated each other's guts, and Davis gives everything she has got in her spiteful, drunken rages.
Next Day Regrets: Jane’s mind is far too decayed for her to feel any regret.
The Legend Of Drunken Master (1994)
The Movie Drinker: Wong Fei-hung (Jackie Chan)
How Drunk? Very, especially in the film’s final scene. You can almost smell the alcohol coming off the screen.
Convincing? Surprisingly, yes. Foregoing the kind of loose-armed, sloppy fighting style we’re used to seeing outside our local pub, Chan ups the comedy and pairs his stumbling antics with some kick-ass moves.
Next Day Regrets: Can this guy remember anything the next day?
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
The Movie Drinker: Tom Doniphon (John Wayne)
How Drunk? Angry drunk. After being turned down by the lovely Hallie, Doniphon gets pissed in the pub, then burns down the house that he had been building for he and Hallie to live in.
Convincing? Wayne excels as a towering, blundering, tempestuous drunk.
Next Day Regrets: That burned down abode’s gonna cost a pretty penny to replace.
City Lights (1931)
The Movie Drinker : A Tramp (Charlie Chaplin)
How Drunk? Chaotic drunk. Periodically picked up and dropped by a party-loving millionaire, Tramp manages to get completely trollied and ruin the rich man’s festivities through his clumsy drunken antics.
Convincing? Chaplin may not utter a single line of audible dialogue, but we don’t need him to – his genius body language does all the talking for him. Awesome drunk.
Next Day Regrets: It all works out in the end, so we can’t imagine Tramp dwelling on the past.
Under The Volcano (1984)
The Movie Drinker: Geoffrey Firmin (Albert Finney)
How Drunk? "Hell is my natural habitat," mourns Firmin, as he descends into a hellish fug of alcohol dependency and inner despair.
Convincing? It’s painful to watch, such is the extent of Finney’s brilliance.
Next Day Regrets: The kind of regrets that’ll turn you to drink.
Old School (2003)
The Movie Drinker: Frank Ricard (Will Ferrell)
How Drunk? “We’re going streaking!” Yes, THAT drunk. Added embarrassment comes when Frank finds he’s the only one actually jogging starkers down the middle of the road – before being discovered by his wife. Sofa for you, buddy.
Convincing? In a 'Will Ferrell comedy' kind of way. He certainly puts his back into that beer bong.
Next Day Regrets: Frank’s surely too old for all this? Cue giant hangover and Anadin galore.
The Thin Man (1934)
The Movie Drinkers: Nick (William Powell) and Nora (Myrna Loy) Charles
How Drunk? They practically have hands made out of glass tumblers, such is the extent of this pair’s tipple loving. At least they have each other – no one likes to drink alone.
Convincing? It’s more comedy drunk than truly convincing, but it's still massively entertaining.
Next Day Regrets: Of course not; they solve the crime, don’t they?
Animal House (1978)
The Movie Drinker: John 'Bluto' Blutarsky (John Belushi)
How Drunk? Genius drunk, ie you get the kind of brilliant ideas that only come to you when you’re wasted. Like sneaking a horse into the dean’s office. See? Genius.
Convincing? “Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbour? Hell no!” A brilliantly convincing line delivery from an actor who probably was (sadly) steaming drunk during filming.
Next Day Regrets: Why regret when you’ve had this much fun?
