It's actually a pretty good depiction of a reaction due to a food allergy.
However, given the throat-clearing suggesting airway swelling which extends to his face, he really should have called 911 as this not uncommonly leads to death if the airway swelling is severe enough to obstruct his breathing. Along with facial and airway swelling, his blood pressure probably dropped and his heart rate increased to point he could have passed out due to insufficient blood flow to the brain. Of course, it was a movie and none of that happened, but don't think for a second that benadryl alone is adequate.
It is a little unusual for an adult to have a previously unknown food allergy with this severe a reaction in someone as old as Hitch, but not impossible.
Treatment was appropriately given with benadrylin the movie, but in reality Hitch additionally should have gone to the ER where epinephrine and steroids also would have been administered followed by several hours of observation.
After recovery, he should ALWAYS carry an epipen with him. He should also probably see an allergist to determine what it was he reacted to so that he can avoid it in the future.
On another note, in the movie, Hitch literally chugs down an entire bottle of liquid benadryl and acts drunk from it. That usually wouldn't have happened... rather, he would have gotten extremely drowsy and fallen asleep fairly quickly. However, in some individuals, it might occur.
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I dont know if you have ever taken a large dose of benadryl, but I recently did. I was stung by something and not knowing what it was, I took 5 liquid teaspoons of Benadryl to head off any reaction thinking it wouldnt do anything to me more then you suggest, make me VERY tired. WRONG..I felt a little inebriated. Balance was off, felt dizzy, and just an in general intoxicated feeling. So yes, Benadryl CAN have that effect on you :)
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