If there is one thing that stands out from the decade of the 80sit is the glamorization and romanticization of drug use. It was the halcyon days of Hollywood studios giving the audience as much of the cocaine-fueled drama that was part of the zeitgeist of the time as kilos of the drug poured in from south of the border. You remember Nancy Reagan saying, “Just Say No!” right? As a result, we got a lot of surface-level movies that depicted a binary notion of crack and cocaine abuse with matinée idol stars in the leads playing very superficial parts. Some of our favorite actors were victimized by the Tinseltown coke binge includingAndrew McCarthyandRobert Downey Jr.inLess Than Zero, andMichael J. FoxandKiefer SutherlandinBright Lights, Big City. These weren’t realistic portrayals of hard-core narcotic abuse. They were specious fluff pieces about how drugs could rip away your potential and your future. They were glorified Public Service Announcements. By the time 1989 rolled around, and we started to see the real devastation of drug abuse unfold audiences were ready for a director likeGus Van Santto deliver the harrowing filmDrugstore Cowboy. The first weighty and raw depiction of the torment addicts go through every day “chasing the dragon” to avoid becoming dopesick.
Drugstore Cowboy
A pharmacy-robbing dope fiend and his crew pop pills and evade the law.
Hollywood Started to Move Away From the Glamorization of Drug Addiction
It all started in 1969 with, to this day,the only X-rated movie to win the Academy Award for Best PictureinMidnight Cowboy. TheWaldo Salt-written film starringJon VoightandDustin Hoffmandropped all the pretenses about drug use and living on the fringes of civilized society. Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo were two troubled, lost souls whose exposure to the seedy underworld of New York City was as gritty and hardscrabble as film gets. It set the bar for realistic abuse and the hazardous side effects. Five years later, in 1974, Dustin Hoffman starred once again in the terrific biopic about tortured, anti-establishment comedian Lenny Bruce inLenny. His portrayal of an iconoclast who was his own worst enemy buried in drug abuse is one of the legendary actor’s best roles in a long career.
This Drug-Fueled Drama Gave Us Unhinged Mads Mikkelsen Way Before ‘Hannibal’
Well before he played the notorious Hannibal Lecter, Mads Mikkelsen’s on-screen career launched with this disturbing character.
These were stories about people who found that being a regular upstanding member of society was tantamount to beating your head against the wall, and the only way to deal with that terrible truth was to bury themselves in pills, needles, and booze. Not the well-dressed hipster in a sports car sniffing some coke until he gets a nosebleed. This is what Van Sant shot for withDrugstore Cowboy, and he asks his lead,the versatileMatt Dillon, to deliver a heavyweight performance similar to Hoffman. Gus Van Sant is known for directing super raw and emotional movies about troubled antiheroes who typically have a good heart but just don’t seem to fit in with the regular crowd (My Own Private Idaho,Good Will Hunting). A lot of people can identify with that.Dillon gives probably the best performance of his storied careerbeing led by a director who knows exactly what he’s looking for.
‘Drugstore Cowboy’ Punches You in the Nose With Authenticity Immediately
The opening scene is of Dillon’s character Bob Hughes on a gurney being hauled in the back of a speeding ambulance because he has been shot by a former dealer. The siren is wailing and a bluesy piano serves as the backdrop as he gives each character a shaky cinéma vérité style introduction. Right off the bat, you know that this is going to be a different animal than the rich kid with a pocketful of money and a problem. He immediately follows that up with the first drugstore caper carried out by the misfit band of addicts that includes talent likeKelly Lynch,James LeGros, and a very young and unknownHeather Graham— all while totally avoiding any form of stereotyping. They are all phenomenal, and you get to see their modus operandi for ripping off pharmacies in the first few moments of the movie. Graham’s character Nadine fakes an epileptic seizure while Dianne (Lynch) and Rick (LeGros) run interference covering for the ringleader Bob who pilfers the store. And they aren’t looking for extra strength Tylenol or aspirin, Bob and his crew want to score the really good stuff like Dilaudid, a heavy painkiller that also gives you an amazing and euphoric rush. Like being hugged by Jesus Christ, or Buddha, or whatever higher power you may recognize. The adrenaline rush you get watching them pull it off is intoxicating itself.
‘Drugstore Cowboy’ Shows the Highs and Lows of Drug Use
Right after the heist, Bob shoots up immediately in the car as they speed away from the drugstore. He experiences a high that reminds me ofDarren Aronofsky’s 2000 masterpieceRequiem For a Dream.The editing and narrationwill have you wondering if you should give these drugs a try. Disclaimer: Don’t! This is in no way an endorsement of illegal drug use! Van Sant just has an uncanny knack for making it almost appealing with his unique shooting and cutting style. But just like inRequiem, the highs are ephemeral and fleeting. In the very next scene, they are arguing over who gets how much and whether they deserve the same share as the person next to them. And that is followed by drawing guns on the neighborhood dealer David (Max Perlich) who wants to see if he can score some of their take. The one thing that Van Sant impresses upon you heavily in the script is the transactional nature of all of these characters. It is a “what can you do for me?” mentality and Bob ends up making a deal with David for more drugs of his own. Every scene is tactfully and deftly used to further the story with either the planning of a drug heist, a drug deal, or tasting the fruits of their latest score. It’s what hardcore addicts do. It’s how they exist in a way that is less choreographed and dolled up than seen in other, lesser movies. Holed up in a dirty room somewhere either going up or coming down, but with an underlying sense of dread that they won’t get their next fix and end up in withdrawals. There is no window dressing of this vicious existence.
Gus Van Sant’s Portrayal of the Life of an Addict is Realistic
Within the first few minutes ofDrugstore Cowboy, Bob’s place gets ransacked by Detective Gentry (James Remar) and a slew of narcotics cops. This is another downside to being known as a habitual thief and dope fiend. You never know when Johnny Law is going to be breaking down the door and looking to put you away. This isn’t a random cop busting in on a group of kids looking to break up a party; these are hardened plain-clothes cops who make their bona fides by racking up collars, jamming you up, and sending you directly to jail. So if you’re keeping score, then it goes something like this — for a couple of minutes of feeling like you’re being embraced by an angel, you have the rest of the day worrying about getting dopesick and getting sent to prison. It’s not a viable or sustainable lifestyle, but it makes for a terrific drama when done the right way like inDrugstore Cowboy. The dialogue is real. The vernacular is everything you have seen on voyeuristic abuseshows likeInterventionor an HBO documentary. Dillon and Lynch are the first and most real drug-addicted lovers depicted on the big screen, and it lifts the film to unprecedented heights.
‘Drugstore Cowboy’ Is Ultimately a Tragedy of Shakespearean Proportions
Have you ever seen a story about dope fiends end up with everyone walking away warm and fuzzy with nothing but blue skies and a bright future ahead? Of course not.Drugstore Cowboyis authentic in this regard as well. The first of the group to overdose is Nadine who gets a little too free and loose with a bottle of Dilaudid. One day when the other three get back to the motel room where they are staying, they find her on the floor. Her face and lips are a steely blue, and she’s stiff as a board. One of the best moments in films like this (albeit tragic and extremely macabre) is the process of disposing of a dead body. You’ve seen in all the great mobster films, only in those movies, they are experienced killers and professionals in corpse disposal. InDrugstore Cowboy, Van Sant portrays Bob as a bumbling addict who goes about the process all wrong.But Bob’s narration feels a lot like a goodMartin Scorsesemovieand Van Sant puts a jocund twist on it to make it his own. Eventually, however, just like in every other well-written and well-made drug abuse drama, the good times come to an end, and the lost souls we go along for the ride with end up dead or in jail.
William S. Burroughs Punched Up Van Sant’s Script For ‘Drugstore Cowboy’
William S. Burroughsplays Tom the Priest, an octogenarian addict who is like the oracle of drug use inDrugstore Cowboy. And who could be a more realistic authority on a life immersed in illegal drug use than William S, Burroughs? Burroughs is a well-known author and visual artist from the Beat Generation who has written a litany of novels detailing his own experiences with mind-altering drugs and other various substances. For him to recognize the potential of what Van Sant was doing,consult on the script, and also appear in the movie is not only validation of the film but a feather in the cap of Van Sant, who at the time was still a young filmmaker finding his niche in Hollywood. For Burroughs to put his stamp of approval on the film is the cherry on top of a project that truly ushered in a more visceral and accurate picture of drug abuse. The films that followed includeRush,Danny Boyle’sTrainspotting,Leaving Las Vegas, andPermanent Midnight. They are all fantastic films that follow in the footsteps ofDrugstore Cowboy.
Drugstore Cowboyis available to watch on Tubi.
Watch on Tubi
