SPUN

"I think we have the finished product"

The Cook

As Spider Mike (Leguizamo) has lost his stash of crystal meth, Ross (Schwartzman) has to go to the source to get his next hit. The problem is that The Cook (Rourke) doesn't just give it away so Ross has to agree to be his driver and be able to drop everything to ferry the man and his girlfriend Nikki (Murphy) wherever they want to go.

Mixing drugs and comedy can be a lethal cocktail as you are always walking a tightrope of making what you are trying to demonise look cool. Spun has quite a few wobbles on the slippery rope but does manage to ensue you with the notion that drugs are bad.

Formulating a plot and a set of characters around the LA crystal Methedrine scene could have been cinematic death but music video turned film director Jonas Åkerland manages to create a visual feast for the eye that really lacks any substance other than the message that drugs take over your life. A mixture of Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream, Spun takes you on a ride through the polluted lives of some people you would never want to be never mind meet, in real life.

Åkerland's casting is what draws you to the movie however. Seeing Hollywood beauties Brittany Murphy and Mena Suvari as dirty, meth-addicted addicts is as far removes from their usual personas as you could possibly get. Character actors Patrick Fugit and the multi-talented John Leguizamo so their diversity as a pair of extremely crazy addicts that provide much of the movie's humour. Jason Schwartzman also makes an interesting lead playing a character that you should despise and have actually no feeling for but you can help but be interested in him. You get a strange, even perverse feeling of satisfaction that his life is going to pieces before eyes as you don't what someone with that level of addiction to have anything good in his life other than the possibility of getting some treatment.

The star of the show is Mickey Rourke however. The Cook is the strongest character on screen and reminds you what a good character actor he used to be before he became caught up in the Hollywood bandwagon. This is a career turning point for the actor and should open him up for higher profile supporting roles.

Jonas Åkerland music video influences are very prominent in the look and style of the film. Fast cuts, bizarre camera angles, extreme close-ups, injections of animation and a repetitive explosion of imagery every time a character takes a hit make the movie more of a visual spectacle than a work of substance. While his style is inventive and visually stimulating, the distinct lack of any real plot stifles the motivations of the characters making them one dimensional drug addicts that have nothing in their lives other than their next score. This might be the message he wanted to convey but it would have been nice to know why these characters chose this route in the first place.

Interweaving the excessive visuals with original music by ex-Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan, Åkerland has created a drug film with a lot to show and nothing much to say. The standout performances from the cast make it watchable but it isn't in the same league as the afore mentioned Trainspotting or Requiem for a Dream.

Jonas Akerlund and Mena Suvari commentary, Jonas Akerlund and Creighton Vero commentary, Deleted scenes, 'Cook Show' trailer featuring Mickey Rourke, UK theatrical trailer, On set photography gallery, Poster competition gallery, MTV party spy-cam, Scene access & Interactive menus