Character Relationship Map: Drunks

Characters

• Jim (played by Richard Lewis) — protagonist

  Jim is a man in recovery who reluctantly recounts his history of drug and alcohol abuse and his subsequent sobriety at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Upset, he abruptly leaves, and the story follows...

• Marty (played by George Martin) — supporting

  Marty is a clergyman who chairs the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in a church basement. He is part of the group of attendees whose meeting frames the film, while others share accounts of their struggle...

• Rachel (played by Dianne Wiest) — supporting

  Rachel is a doctor and an attendee at the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. She worries that, after alcohol and pills, she is substituting workaholism for her earlier addictions. Her concern is shared wit...

• Debbie (played by Parker Posey) — supporting

  Debbie is a party girl who attends the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and recounts her struggle with addiction. She idolizes Janis Joplin and has replaced alcoholism with an addiction to football. Her a...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Debbie → Marty (Professional Meeting Participant) — Marty provides the formal meeting context for Debbie's account.

  Debbie is one of the attendees at the meeting chaired by Marty and discusses her alcoholism and substitute addiction.

• Rachel → Marty (Professional Meeting Participant) — Marty facilitates the setting in which Rachel examines her addiction.

  Rachel attends the meeting chaired by Marty and recounts her concern that workaholism is replacing alcohol and pills.

• Jim → Marty (Professional Meeting Chair And Attendee) — Marty presides over the meeting that Jim reluctantly joins.

  Marty is the clergyman and chairperson of the meeting, while Jim attends and shares his recovery story.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Rachel → Debbie (Social Fellow Attendee) — Their stories contribute to the shared portrait of addiction and substitution.

  Rachel and Debbie are both among the attendees whose struggles are recounted during the same Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

• Jim → Rachel (Social Fellow Attendee) — They are connected through the shared recovery setting.

  Jim and Rachel are both attendees at the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, where each discusses addiction and sobriety-related struggles.

• Jim → Debbie (Social Fellow Attendee) — Their parallel experiences form part of the meeting's group dynamic.

  Jim and Debbie attend the same meeting, which alternates Jim's struggle with testimonies from the remaining attendees.

Story Analysis

The film interweaves one man's nighttime struggle against drinking with the addiction stories shared at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

Plot Progression

1. A Reluctant Confession — The group gathers in a church basement in Times Square, with Marty chairing the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Jim reluctantly describes his drug and alcohol abuse and subsequent sobriety before becomi...
2. The Nightly Temptation — After leaving the meeting, Jim tries unsuccessfully to resist drinking that same night. His private struggle is placed beside the continuing testimonies of the remaining attendees.
3. Substituted Addictions — Rachel discusses her fear that workaholism is replacing alcohol and pills. Debbie describes replacing alcoholism with an addiction to football, expanding the meeting's portrait of dependency.
4. The Shared Struggle — The film continues alternating Jim's attempts to resist drinking with the attendees' accounts of addiction. The separate stories create a collective examination of recovery and relapse pressure.