This is the life story of William Wilson, better known to thousands as Bill W., the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Most people don’t know the history of the program’s founding and they especially don’t know very much about the man behind it. The doc chronicles Wilson’s humble upbringing, education, marriage, descent into alcoholism and, eventually, his saving himself and forming the group that has changed the lives of so many. Using interviews with historians and current AA members, plus voice recordings, stock footage and re-enactments of Bill, the film is quite interesting in its reconstruction of the life of such an important, yet tortured, figure … when it is focused on the subject of his founding of AA and getting it to grow, that is. When it tries to focus on Bill’s existence outside of his alcoholism and the program, the film flounders. It drags on for approximately 30 minutes longer than it should, and would have been much better had the filmmakers taken less time to recap the later years of his life.