Another Round: A Guide on How to Use Alcohol to Excel in Life
Sometimes all it takes is a little alcohol to make a bad time an enjoyable one. Sometimes this isn’t true, however. Sometimes it takes a lot of alcohol to make a bad time an enjoyable one. This is the realization the characters in Another Round make as they delve into a friend group “study” of hammering down beers.
Another Round is an interesting investigation into the pros and cons of alcohol usage. The main character, Martin, is a middle-aged history teacher who has built a family and lost much of his former, youthful excitement for life. He and his three friends, recognizing how they have lost their passion, declare they will conduct a study of maintaining a blood alcohol content of 0.05% in an attempt to be more relaxed and confident throughout their daily lives.
Another Round is a movie that excels in questioning gray areas.. The characters thrive when maintaining a low blood alcohol content, but come to their demise as they feed into temptation and increase the blood alcohol content level they maintain. That said, here are some important and engaging questions and considerations that arise when watching the film:
Is anyone capable of keeping 0.05 BAC?
One of the key choices the movie makes is to have the characters be at their highest levels of achievement when in control of their alcohol content. It argues that a person who would consistently maintain a low BAC would be more relaxed and capable. The movie doesn’t warn against drinking until it becomes alcoholism. This begs the question of whether the movie believes the characters themselves are what lead to increased consumption through lack of self control or poor decision making, or if this is simply human nature. I would argue the latter for this film, with it being a generalization rather than a fact since surely someone would be capable of holding themselves under 0.1 %.
Will Martin only be able to be himself when he drinks?
I think this is really the beautiful question the film poses.. Through drinking, Martin becomes a more enthusiastic teacher and husband, winning back the life he used to have. While certain details in his life shift as the story progresses,, this effect doesn’t. The movie closes with Martin having a good time drinking with friends, and though it is done in celebration rather than as a coping mechanism, the fact remains that he isn’t sober.
How does alcohol change how Martin operates?
Yes, I understand how alcohol works. My question is more rooted in the fact that it seems evident Martin has become boring through being bogged down by family and work. Alcohol allows him to feel more free. The spot where I was hoping to receive more clarity in the film (especially with some recurrent talk of anxiety/stress and how alcohol reduces that) is what he is feeling free from. I mentioned family and work, but at the same time, Martin experiences these parts of life in a much more mundane way than other characters in the story. I wanted to see more of the internal side of why he feels the way he does, and how the drinking changes the way he feels from his perspective (also given the fact he is more hesitant to drink than the other characters and that alcohol changes his personality in a greater way).
The depiction of peer pressure
This is a smaller note, but I found the depiction of peer pressure to be remarkably accurate from my own experiences. As it is rooted in a desire to be a part of the group, rather than an outright demand/request from friends to drink.