The movie industry has its own peculiar takes on how it sees the world of illicit drug use. Here are some reviews of well known drug movies.
BLOW (2001)
Based on a true story, Blow looks at George Jung’s rise and fall as a cocaine dealer who eventually became the biggest importer in the US. Starting in the 1960s, George Jung (Johnny Depp) moves to California in search of the American Dream, where he meets a marijuana dealer and starts enjoying the lucrative bliss of selling marijuana. He hits trouble and winds up in prison where he makes connections to the Colombian cocaine suppliers.
On leaving prison, he makes a rapid climb to the top as the biggest importer of cocaine before his world crashes down around him. Released in 2001, Blow is a gripping film, particularly as it has the ring of truth about it. One of the best lines from Johnny Depp is “I went in with a bachelor’s of marijuana and came out with a doctorate in cocaine.”
TRAINSPOTTING (1996)
Possibly one of the best drug movies ever made, Trainspotting is still a blend of black humour and reality concerning a group of Scottish heroin addicts. Produced in 1996, Ewan McGregor is excellent in the main role, managing to hang out effectively... “I don’t feel the sickness yet, but it’s in the post. That’s for sure. I’m in the junkie limbo at the moment. Too ill to sleep. Too tired to stay awake, but the sickness is on its way. Sweat, chills, nausea. Pain and craving. A need like nothing else I’ve ever known will soon take hold of me. It’s on its way.”
Trainspotting does not have the judgmental, conservative anti-drug message feel to it — you get the feeling the script was put together from someone who has been there. There are highs, there are lows, some are full-on addicts, others can take it or leave it. It is a gritty, and often funny, look into the seamier side of smack.
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
Darren Aronofsky directed Requiem For A Dream as an intense story of how a variety of people, knowingly or unknowingly, get into various drugs. To some extent, Requiem avoids the usual stereotypes of drug users in American films. We see the good times, mateship and intense highs of drug use, balanced with the shit that can also happen for some users when things get out of control. The music and visual effects are excellent, particularly the fast take sequences where the main characters are shooting up, and when they are tripping.
Harry Goldfarb genuinely cares for his mum but occasionally pawns her TV to get on, while she gets into trouble with prescription drugs from a careless doctor. The film creatively goes about looking at other dependencies apart from drugs, such as TV, relationships and individual visions of what a better life might be. Another great touch is that no particular character is typecast as evil or good – we just see confused vulnerable people which is a vast improvement on the concrete morality and one dimensional figures in many drug films.
DRUGSTORE COWBOY (1989)
“Most people don’t know how they’re gonna feel from one
moment to the next. But a dope fiend has a pretty good idea. All you gotta
do is look at the labels on the little bottles.”
Set in the early 1970s, four users steal from pharmacies to support their
habits. The leader, Bob, always has a creative plan for getting the next
fix but hits a snag when they have to get rid of the body of one of the
girls who has overdosed, by sneaking it out of a motel during a sheriffs’
convention. Most of the movie is shot in a documentary style, which gives
it an extremely realistic feel. The best scenes in the movie are the robbery
and recovery ones. There is also a lot of dark humour throughout this film
and a high degree of realism concerning heavy drug use.
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