Spun (2002)

About a month ago my friend told me about this movie, after hearing about it on Late Night with Conan O'Brien or Carson Daly's show, which ever. So I went to the website and was immediately enamored. Being that it was not out in ANY theater within a 150 mile radius of me, I did what any blue blooded American would do. Download it. Unfortunately, I was only able to download the first half. Well, the first half kept me begging for more and for four weeks I waited for it to come out, watching the first half at least once a week. Today I finally purchased it, and I am not disappointed. Such an amazing movie should be up there with Requiem for a Dream and Trainspotting. If you can take a great dark comedy, go check it out. Get Spun.

-Pete

Fmovies: I saw this film at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival. Boasting a raft of young talent (Jason Schwartzman, Patrick Fugit, Mena Suvari, Brittany Murphy), this is a frantic tale about a group of methamphetamine addicts. Raunchy, disturbing, and often very very funny. The pace does tend to wear out the viewer, though. Since we saw the "unrated" cut, expect the final "R" version to be more manageable in length. Brittany Murphy and John Leguizamo do amazing work here. And the use of sound is quite jarring and effective, too.

Spun is a tale about drugs, sex and addictions. Ross(Jason Schwartzman)who is a speed freak along with Nikki(Brittany Murphy) are introduced to the perfect speed made by "The Cook"(Mickey Rourke). Along with some other speed freaks including dealer Spider Mike(John Leguizamo) and his girl Cookie(Mena Suvari) their addictions will come to some crazy consequences that could affect their entire future. This was a very crazy and wild movie filled with humor and excitement. The performances are excellent by all actors and their characters were very believable. I would give Spun 7.5/10

Spun fmovies. This happens to be my favorite movie of all time. A lot of people misunderstand this movie when they watch it. YES, the movie does not have a real point, but it does show you how the speed life is. This movie does a great job portraying that, better than any movie i've seen. You could categorize this movie as educational if you wanted. If you know anybody on speed and you you want to know how it's like, watch this and you'll get the picture. This is the best movie in drug cinema. There need to be more films like this.

It also has a great cast. I'm surprised and disappointed to see this movie never got to the mainstream. I guess people shy from the truth.

Spun is a wild ride, an ADD movie that seems to say, `If you don't like what's on screen right now, don't worry it'll change in the next ten seconds.' Director Jonas Akerlund, cut his teeth in the frenetic world of music video and it shows. Spun spins out of control from its opening minutes, shooting out images and plot points willy nilly. This makes Snatch look slow by comparison. If you can keep up with the pace, there is something here. Akerlund takes us deep inside the crystal meth culture, and it is an unnerving but hilarious journey. We meet a group of characters tied together by their association with one man, the crystal meth cook. We get a good sense of the lives of these characters, and even like some of them, no matter how addled they are by their addictions. What we see in Spun isn't story driven as much as it simply a slice of life – a dirty, sped up slice of life. Good performances compliment the material, particularly from Mickey Rourke as the Cook, Jason Schwartzman as the likeable speed freak and John Leguizamo who sheds almost all his inhibitions in this role.

My eyes were wide open through this roller coaster ride of drugs, sex, violence, and drugs. If you are familiar with meth and its addicts, I think, you'll enjoy and at the same time be more sadden watching this film because what you'll see is bits of the truth in the world of meth-heads. Although, I think, some people instead of feeling sympathy for the characters might just be in for a laugh.This film was wonderfully done and casted. All actors in this film, I believe, portrayed their characters very well. They were right on point! Watching this... I got irritated and anxious. A great film and excellently directed. I actually watched this film twice. Yeah... I'm a loser, what can I say?