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The Cook,The Tweaks,Their Lives, & Their Struggles

A meth-fueled rollercoaster ride in the lives of a bunch of tweakers, which essentially goes nowhere. But then that's the point of the movie. It's spread over the course of three sleepless days, so the viewer as well as the characters lose track of time. Through the editing, dialogue, and various situations in the movie, I think the filmmakers did a great job of placing the viewer into the mindset of a speed freak. I like the animation that's integrated into the film in various (appropriate) places too. There's some great characters in the film like John Leguizamo as Spider Mike and his strung-out girlfriend Cookie, played by Mena Suvari. Their dysfunctional relastionship is interesting to watch (and downright funny in some scenes). Ross, played by Jason Schwartzman, is the main character in the movie and is arguably the most grounded person in the film. Though over the course of the three day adventure he becomes just as spun as everbody else. He becomes important in the lives of all the characters primarily because he's the only one who has a car. Mickey Rourke plays "The Cook", and he's great as usual. One of my favorite characters is Frisbee, a black metal-loving tweaker always hanging out at Spider Mike's place. By the way, the video Frisbee's watching in his bedroom when the cops raid his place is the black metal band Satyricon's "Mother North". Here's a bit of trivia (and probably the reason for the black metal connection); the director, Jonas Akerlund, was drummer for the band Bathory from 1983 to 1984. If you're looking for a drug-related movie that's fairly realistic, but still has a healthy dose of humor, then this should fit the bill. It doesn't delve too deep into the horrors of addiction, so it's not a depressing ride like REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (which is a great film). And it doesn't stray all the way out into the left field of surrealism and paranoia like FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS (another great film, by the way). Just be sure to get the unrated "director's cut" version.

7/10
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Added by Hexenkult
15 years ago on 27 May 2008 00:10

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