Drugstore Cowboy (1989) - Gus Van Sant

While not wholly-original by any means, Gus Van Sant's Drugstore Cowboy is a pensive, unbiased examination of American Drug Culture which is never judgmental nor romanticized, being a film that is simply interested in documenting the transient lifestyle of those individuals who live a life of very little foresight.  The film itself focuses around Bob, the leader of a group of dopeheads who wander somewhat aimlessly around the country robbing pharmacies to feed their addiction.  Bob is accompanied by his old friend Rick, his wife, Dianne, and a teenage junkie, Nadine, and the foursome spends every waking moment either getting high or planning out where to get their next fix.  When one of the addicts of their group dies unexpectedly from an overdose, it prompts Bob to attempt to go straight, a task which is much easier said than done for a character whose only real relationship includes a wife in Dianne who is determined to stay high.  Drugstore Cowboy is a film intent on transporting the viewer into the transient world of its characters, examining the fatalistic mindset of this culture which lives in the moment, only interested in finding their next inebriated state.  Using lots of close-ups, punch-ins, and surrealistic touches, Van Sant has crafted a film that beautifully exhibits the mindset of a drug-addict, expressing the the euphoria and tranquility inebriation brings to those with little direction.  The film is honest in its portrayal of the euphoria which psychedelic drugs can bring but also the dangers of such actions, most notably in how Drugstore Cowboy exhibits the instability which addiction can bring.  In Drugstore Cowboy every relationship feels secondary to their addiction, with Bob for example being a character who is quietly threatening as the leader of this group of pharmaceutical robbers, calm unless someone questions his authority in the gang or simply gets in the way of his drug use.  The film exhibits the raw power of drug addiction, the paranoia it causes in the psyche where nothing is more important than seeking out that next euphoric high.  Drugstore Cowboy is far from a political film, nor one interested in simply being a cautionary tale, but instead a film that attempts to comprehend the culture of those individuals who have reached a fatalistic point in their lives, uninterested in everyday life, with drugs being the only thing that offers them relief from society.  The fringe of society is captured vividly and in-detail with Van Sant's use of composition and surrealism, evoking a feeling of borderline hopelessness in this sub-culture, people with little motivation to contribute to a society they can't comprehend.  When Bob attempts to go clean towards the back half of the film is when Drugstore Cowboy socio-political message becomes more clear, being a film that focuses less on condoning those with this crippling addiction and more interested in the reflection this sub-culture has on America as a whole.  Transporting the viewer deep into this shabby, transient culture where uncertainty reigns, Drugstore Cowboy provides one of the more honest portraits of Drug Culture, never condoning it nor romanticizing addiction, intent only on providing a realistic portrait of the fatalism, spontaneity, despondency, pleasure, and dependency which the culture breeds. 

---