An absolute waste of money

A Major Disappointment

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

*My Name is Bill W: The True Story of the Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous* could be more inaccurate than it is. I do believe that the producers of this film tried to relay the biographical information depicted in the texts of AA, particularly, *Alcoholics Anonymous* (the main text of the entire 12 Step Program and its subsequent branches and called "The Big Book* among its followers). The film *My Name is Bill W" even goes further than *Big Book* by suggesting that Bill W's early infidelities to his wife Lois were not the near misses because of impotence or other related problems caused by an excess consumption of alcohol that the Big Book alludes to, but actually did occur. The film also does a fairly good job of showing the symptoms of Bill Wilson's narcissism, his need to always be in charge and on top, and that this energy was what contributed to the growth of AA. However, the film is still doing a disservice to its viewers by failing to note that this same trait is consistent with religious cult leaders and is not generally beneficial to anyone. It is also a trait that has contributed to many abusive but standard practices in the groups of AA, such as a habit of "blaming the victim." Also while the film is more accurate than I believe the Big Book is in depicting Bill Wilson as was far from an ideal husband whether drunk or sober, the film still fails to note that Bill Wilson was a horrific womanizer of Newcomer women to AA, as well as fathered at least one child out of wedlock while he was what might be considered the Supreme Head of AA. Indeed, it is said that other Old Timer men had to work diligently to keep Bill W. away from young women when Bill was doing tours for this reason, and also that Bill was the "Original 13th Stepper." *The13th Step is the term that AA, itself, came up with to describe the habit of Old Timer men (and sometimes women) of lying to, misleading, and exploiting Newcomers for sex. Thus, despite attempting the truth, this film fails because it is still in the end just propaganda for a movement/religious that should be considered more of a cult than cure for alcoholism. It is appalling that this film won multiple film awards.

I was a partly-involved spectator during the filming of the movie, and it was an incredible experience. The quality of the actors was usurped only by their unending interest in the story of Bill W and the important message they were delivering.James Garner and James Woods were intensely focused on keeping the story of Dr. bob and Bill as true to form as possible. Jo Beth Williams played Lois Wilson incredibly well; first as a confused wife with no options and a drunkard husband; then as a strong willed but understanding partner for life.If anyone has a loved one or knows of a friend whose life is impacted by an alcoholic, then this movie is both an eye opener and an inspiration to keep trying to find a way to fight and deal with the disease.

This is an Excellent movie showing how AA started and how it works. It Shows non AA people how the program works. The two actors who played Bill and Bob are very believable as recovering alcoholics too. I wish everyone would watch this movie so they could see how the program works and so they would understand why people want to go to meetings the rest of their lives.

This is the story of the founding of the organization Alcoholics Anonymous. I am acquainted with two people who knew Bill W (the main character in the movie) and they say that they believe this is an accurate depiction of the events shown in it.