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16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Completely And Painfully Honest!, 24 Oct 2008
I am divorced now thankfully, but I spent well over 12 years married to and living with a compulsive gambler like Bing in this drama.
I found "Sunshine" to be a completely 'true to life' and a 'totally honest' portrayal of this desperately sad, addictive illness. It was painful for me to watch, as the characters in "Sunshine" forced me to relive every financially worrying, upsetting, sickening and tear stained moment of my life with my ex-husband, also a compulsive gambler. There was nothing that Bing put his family through in this drama that me and my family didn't also suffer by the actions of my ex-husband's gambling, it was frighteningly accurate, as if someone had televised our lives together!
If you have an interest in this addictive illness, for whatever reason, perhaps you are trying to understand the behaviour of a close family member or friend, then this drama will not fail to educate you. I found it particularly useful to see the illness through the sufferer's eyes, in this case Bing, as it helped me to come to terms with what my ex-husband had put me and my family through.
On a more pessimistic level however, I felt that the happy ending this drama painted, was more likely to be only a temporary state, which made me feel so sad for Lisa and little Joe. As in my own personal experience there is no real 'cure' for addicted, compulsive gamblers, only daily will power which inevitably fails them time after time. During my marriage to an addicted, compulsive gambler, I left him many, many times, swearing each time that I wouldn't take him back because of what he'd put me and our family through. Each time however, just like Bing, he seemed to try so hard to get himself sorted out, so I kept feeling sorry for him and taking him back again, until finally I had to come to terms with the sad realisation that he was actually NEVER going to be able to change, he would ALWAYS have the need to gamble, and at that point, for mine and my family's sanity, I made it final and divorced him.
The drama explains briefly at the start, the probable cause of Bing becoming a compulsive gambler, as you are shown a scene in which his Father plays cards with him using chocolate buttons instead of money, and you realise that it is this seemingly 'innocent' activity that his Father has taught him that almost certainly contributed towards Bing becoming an addicted, compulsive gambler.
This is not a cheerful, happy film as such, although it does have its moments, but it is exceptionally well written, directed and acted. It is an open window into the deep and disturbing world of gambling. I recommend it thoroughly!
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