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Spun
2002
Ross (Jason Schwartzman) is an addict badly in need of some speed. A visit to his dealer, Spider Mike's (John Leguizamo)--where fellow "tweakers" Nikki (Brittany Murphy)--a stripper, Frisbee (Patrick Fugit)--a metalhead, and Cookie (Mena Suvari)--Mike's girlfriend--turns into an odyssey, though, when Mike can't find his stash. .. Read more
| Starring | Jason Schwartzman, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Patrick Fugit |
|---|---|
| Director | Jonas Akerlund |
| Genres | Comedy |
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Spun
Ross (Jason Schwartzman) is an addict badly in need of some speed. A visit to his dealer, Spider Mike's (John Leguizamo)--where fellow "tweakers" Nikki (Brittany Murphy)--a stripper, Frisbee (Patrick Fugit)--a metalhead, and Cookie (Mena Suvari)--Mike's girlfriend--turns into an odyssey, though, when Mike can't find his stash. Nikki tells Ross that her boyfriend, crazed cowboy The Cook (Mickey Rourke), can supply whatever he needs. The two of them visit The Cook at his motel lab, and Ross quickly gets his fix. Ross, however, is put into service as The Cook's errand boy and chauffeur, with only brief periods of freedom to check up on the stripper girlfriend he left tied to his bed back at his apartment. Ross' three days without sleep reaches a feverish head when it becomes evident that two cops (Peter Stormare and Alexis Arquette) have raided Spider Mike's pad in search of The Cook.
This relentlessly crude and graphic feature from Swedish music video director Jonas Ackerlund is not for the faint-of-heart. Lightning-fast edits, sexually explicit animation, Farrelly-Brothers-level rudeness, and a pervasive sense of nihilism swirl together to create a morally empty Los Angeles of seedy housing and strip joints inhabited by corrupt cops and thrill-seeking lawbreakers. Set to a memorable score by Billy Corgan, Mickey Rourke's memorable turn paves the way for a game young cast.
| Starring | Jason Schwartzman, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Patrick Fugit, Brittany Murphy |
|---|---|
| Director | Jonas Akerlund |
| Studio | PATHE DISTRIBUTION |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 41 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 02 Apr 2004 Production year: 2002 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (5)
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Swedish music-video director Jonas Akerlund made his first foray into feature films with this head-spinning affair. Part Requiem for a Dream, part The Salton Sea, it's a grimy tale of “spun-out” crystal meth users that's as hyperactive as its protagonists. Throwing together an eclectic cast that ranges from Brittany Murphy and a green-toothed Mena Suvari to Mickey Rourke and singer Deborah Harry, it takes a quirky and irreverent look at addiction and its consequences for junkie Jason Schwartzman and his misfit friends. The action unfolds over three days, during which time their dependency pushes them into increasingly bizarre situations. Frenetically shot, and with enough jump cuts and imaginative visuals to give viewers whiplash, the movie has cult cool written all over it. However, its lack of morality, cheap shock tactics and sewer-mouth script mean it really is an acquired taste.
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Filmed in a bleached-out style, given to jump cuts and odd sound effects to suggest a drugged state of mind, this offers secondhand style without substance, revelling in its own nastiness.
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Most helpful member's review
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17 out of 20 people found this review helpful
Harrowing Black Comedy
If you have ever been on drugs, or you want to understand more, watch this movie. The glamour and glitz of everyday activities of your average doped up fool is classicly epitomised within the content of this woeful tale. There is a mixture of emotions whilst watching the movie, and you can actually feel the teenage angst and drug endused denial that is being thrown at you from the films main players. At the end of the film you feel dirty and relieved that you have managed to get to the inevitable moralistic conclusion........JUST SAY NO. In all seriousness though, the film has achieved this in a fashion that has an appeal to people that have had/having drug problems. This of course would be the directors intention one would imagine,and he has succeeded.The only two other movies to manage that on this level, has to be 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' and of course 'Trainspotting'.
Each take the light with the dark and mix it up into scrambled egg and chuck it at you from a passing Volvo doing 100 Mph. -
Most recent members' review
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3 out of 4 people found this review helpful
Drugs aren't bad, neither are they great
The first feature film from incendiary pop promo director Jonas Akerlund, who was responsible for the ultra violent videos for ‘The Prodigy – Smack my Bitch Up’ and ‘The Cardigans – My Favourite Game’. Here he continues with a film which is guaranteed to offend the conservative elite. It focuses on the lives of a bunch of meth heads; and those that make it. They live sordid, seedy lives with their only preoccupations being scoring the next hit or getting off on porn.
The actresses especially are cast against type, Mena Suvari and Brittany Murphy as drug addicts do an adequate job of subverting the audience’s preconceived ideas of them. The real star of the show is Mickey Rourke as the Cook who seems perennially out of it, something which he can draw personal inspiration from.
The style of the movie is like an elongated pop video; utilising hundreds of quick cuts and LSD inspired cartoon parts when the characters are tripping out. Unfortunately the film does not provide the hard hit that its nearest American cousin ‘Requiem for a Dream’ is able to, which is able to shake the viewer to the core. Having said that, this movie is going for irreverence towards its subject matter, with even the cops being complete micky takes of 70’s police shows. Not a bad film just not one able to deliver that unbelievable high. -
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