This is a good film but personally it doesn't ring true.
Addiction can be devastating. It often is. I speak from personal experience. A relatively lengthy period of abstinence like 10 months can be totally reinvigorating but relapse is not uncommon. The effects of drugs/alcohol cause physical and emotional pain. Anders would at least be feeling positive effects from the relief of the physical pain. This is not apparent.
What is uncommon is that if your life has been totally devastated to the point where you are in enforced rehab, it is unlikely that you would slip back into life in the way the protagonist of the film has. The point of the film seems to be that the life and people you once had are no longer available to you and yet in this film they actually are to a strong degree. He is welcomed by friends, family are understanding, he gets to go to parties with well adjusted, well healed people. The reality, more often than not, is that most people would be giving you a wide berth because of the mess you have created. Norwegian society might be more sympathetic but addiction is still very much a personal 'crime'.
Paradoxically, we are led to believe that the editor would not consider him for the job because of his problems. I find that highly unlikely considering the way Anders presents himself. I would think that a journalist would consider that non judgmentally or at least be keen to appear non judgmental. Some might see such an experience as a useful insight. Anders is not a shambling mess after all.
This isn't a film about the devastating effects of drug addiction, this is a film about an individual who is unable to come to terms with life, his experience of drug addiction is a facet of that and his privileged circumstances are uncommon. His life is all around him, he fails to see it. That can be true of someone with or without addiction problems. Look around the streets in the poor areas of any city if you want to see what drugs do to people. A short stint in rehab seldom leads you to nice parties sipping moet chandon with attractive young upwardly mobiles.
Addiction can be devastating. It often is. I speak from personal experience. A relatively lengthy period of abstinence like 10 months can be totally reinvigorating but relapse is not uncommon. The effects of drugs/alcohol cause physical and emotional pain. Anders would at least be feeling positive effects from the relief of the physical pain. This is not apparent.
What is uncommon is that if your life has been totally devastated to the point where you are in enforced rehab, it is unlikely that you would slip back into life in the way the protagonist of the film has. The point of the film seems to be that the life and people you once had are no longer available to you and yet in this film they actually are to a strong degree. He is welcomed by friends, family are understanding, he gets to go to parties with well adjusted, well healed people. The reality, more often than not, is that most people would be giving you a wide berth because of the mess you have created. Norwegian society might be more sympathetic but addiction is still very much a personal 'crime'.
Paradoxically, we are led to believe that the editor would not consider him for the job because of his problems. I find that highly unlikely considering the way Anders presents himself. I would think that a journalist would consider that non judgmentally or at least be keen to appear non judgmental. Some might see such an experience as a useful insight. Anders is not a shambling mess after all.
This isn't a film about the devastating effects of drug addiction, this is a film about an individual who is unable to come to terms with life, his experience of drug addiction is a facet of that and his privileged circumstances are uncommon. His life is all around him, he fails to see it. That can be true of someone with or without addiction problems. Look around the streets in the poor areas of any city if you want to see what drugs do to people. A short stint in rehab seldom leads you to nice parties sipping moet chandon with attractive young upwardly mobiles.