Movie Reviews: A Walk Through Crack Alley From Spun to Half Nelson

From the stoned but ultimately ultra-cool roadtrippers in Easy Rider to Tina Turner's rockin' portrayal of the Drug Queen in Tommy, the second most obligatory scene in any "gritty" film of the past 40 years is the "out of control drug trip" scene (the first being the "let's watch these actors pretend to hump for a bit longer than is necessary" scene).

I was never a big fan of Cheech and Chong - I'd rather be stoned than watch other people be stoned and films that sit on either side of the zealotry train (DRUGS ARE EVIL vs. DRUGS ROCK!) bore the shit out of me in the same way that most propogandistic fare does. For no reason I can ascertain, though, I've watched four films out on DVD in the last two months that deal with the intense drug addicted world.

Spun

• Written by Will De Los Santos and Creighton Vero
• Directed by Jonas Akerlund
• Featuring Jason Schwartzman, Mickey Rourke, Brittney Murphy

A standard day-in-the-life of a group of people surrounding constant tweaking of methamphetamine, this is Requiem for a Dream lite, complete with a satirical, but unfunny and not particularly interesting faux TV show (B.U.S.T.E.D.) and a lot of truly heinous behavior by people you don't really like or have anything in common with.

I watched this film on my Mac, with headphones on, while Jen had a rehearsal in our living room and felt grimy and wanted a shower after. It did nothing for me except to vow that if I ever use meth, I'm definitely A) taking a shower and cleaning up my apartment first and B) getting someone else to buy it.

Wonderland

• Written and Directed by James Cox
• Featuring Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Lisa Kudrow, and Josh Lucas

This was billed as a semi-biographical film about John Holmes (the 'Porn King' of the seventies, aka Johnny Wadd) and is, instead, a crime procedural Rashomon about the murders that Holmes seemed to be involved in after his porn career was well in the can.

Article Author: Don Hall

Don Hall is the Founding Director of Chicago's pernicious Off Loop theater company, WNEP Theater and is an actor, director, writer and teacher in Chicago. He also is the Events Coordinator for Chicago Public Radio and the Audience Services Manager …

Visit Don Hall's author page — Don Hall's Blog