Drugstore Cowboy

Watch: Drugstore Cowboy

10/20/19891h 42m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Sooner or later, someone will pay the price. ~

Overview:

Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, who skillfully steal from drugstores and hospital medicine cabinets in order to appease their insatiable need for drugs. But neither fun nor luck last forever.

Director:

Gus Van Sant

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$2,500,000.00

Revenue:

$4,700,000.00

Key words:

drug abuse
support group
1970s
drug addiction
junkie
portland, oregon
drugstore
group therapy
melancholy
drug stealing
burglars
opioid use disorder
hopeful
tragic

Cast

Matt Dillon

~ as ~

Bob

Kelly Lynch

~ as ~

Dianne

James Remar

~ as ~

Gentry

James LeGros

~ as ~

Rick

Heather Graham

~ as ~

Nadine

Beah Richards

~ as ~

Drug Counselor

Grace Zabriskie

~ as ~

Bob's Mother

Max Perlich

~ as ~

David

William S. Burroughs

~ as ~

Tom the Priest

Eric Hull

~ as ~

Druggist

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 month(s) ago
7
I reckon this might be the best effort I’ve seen from Matt Dillon as his “Bob” leads a small group of drug addicts who have finessed the art of stealing prescription medication from pharmacies and hospitals alike before retreating to a motel room and an amiable haze of booze and sex. He’s accompanied on his adventures by his wife “Dianne” (Kelly Lynch) and his understudy “Rick” (James Le Gros) and his gal “Nadine” (Heather Graham) who is very, very, green. Of course, their antics have attracted the attention of law enforcement and wily detective “Gentry” (James Remar) is soon on their trail. Aware that they might be living on borrowed time, they flee their usual stomping grounds until a tragedy befalls the group and that has quite a profound effect on a “Bob” who may now be having his own Damascene moment. Is it all going to be too little, too late, though? Both the convincing Lynch and Dillon manage to imbue their roles with quite a degree of personality here; their characterisations are gritty and plausible and well supported by both the others and by a production design that offers us an uncomfortable glimpse into the lives of these (and potentially other) addicts. There’s plenty of pith from the dialogue and even though what they are doing is destructive and illegal, they still manage to illicit a degree of sympathy as things unfold in an almost pitiable fashion. It also takes quite a potent look at societal attitudes to addiction and ask questions about just what solutions we might suggest instead of incarceration and/or state imposed cold turkey.