DVD Movie Rating for: Spun

Rating

Movie Plot of: Spun

When Ross (Rushmore’s Jason Schwartzman) sets out to score some crystal meth from low-life dealer Spider Mike (John Leguizamo), he sets in motion an insane series of events that plays out over the course of three speed-crazed days, involving a motley assortment of strippers, thieves, mobsters and even cowboys.

drugs fuck Spider Mike sleaze scoring methyl amphetamine wrestling drugs music Video Hyper crank Brittany Murphy stripper tense sweet edgy Intense spaced out dirt billy corgan shit bad moustache Jason Schartzman greasy speed fuck ecstacy adult cream porn 900mph volvo mickey rourke rubbish dump nikki great soundtrack the cook editing eyeballs mascara bad porn mullet fuck fuck fuck fucking Patrick Fugit spots coke heavy metal clumsy cunt animation gaffa tape ozzy osbourne stuck dayglo bored sleazy drugs insane cookie handcuffs anal green spunk dog original spun volvo no sleep socks on cock whores shooting up John Leguizamo phone sex dealer freebasing shit fat filmed gay Deborah Harry Zwan Lesbians frisbee beatings the man latinas drug cops Peter Stormare TV show fuck wired village people cunt Ron Jeremy whore game over fuck boom shit pain beer crank wrestling Eric Roberts effete tied up balls guns shot escape white stilletos ross speed drugs drugs drugs

DVD Production Details of: Spun

Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, Mena Suvari

Director: Jonas Åkerlund

Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby

Aspect Ratio(s): 1.85:1

Audio Encoding: Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround

Rated: Unrated
Studio: Columbia Tri-Star
DVD Release Date: July 22, 2003
Run Time: 101

DVD Features:
Available subtitles: English, Spanish, French
Available Audio Tracks: English (Dolby Digital 5.1), English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), French (Dolby Digital 5.1), Commentary by director and writer, Commentary by producer and writer
Commentary by director and writer

Commentary by producer and writer

Uncensored director's cut

Deleted scenes

Music video

Spun DVD Easter Eggs

None

Cast of the movie: Spun

• Mickey Rourke .... The Cook
• Brittany Murphy .... Nikki
• John Leguizamo .... Spider Mike
• Patrick Fugit .... Frisbee
• Mena Suvari .... Cookie
• Chloe Hunter .... April Love
• Elisa Bocanegra .... Giggles
• Julia Mendoza .... La Sadgirl
• China Chow .... Escort
• Nicholas Gonzalez .... Angel
• Deborah Harry .... Neighbor
• Josh Peck .... Fat Boy
• Charlotte Ayanna .... Amy
• Eric Roberts .... The Man
• Larry Drake .... Dr. K
• Rob Halford .... Pornclerk
• Peter Stormare .... Mullet Cop
• Alexis Arquette .... Moustache Cop
• Jorge Cottini .... Doorman
• Annie O'Donnell .... Vet Receptionist
• Ericka Lesa .... Cocktail Waitress
• Billy Corgan .... Doctor
• Tony Kaye .... Emcee
• Ron Jeremy .... Bartender
• Thomas Knickerbocker .... Jail Cop (as Tom Knickerbocker)
• Lisa Brounstein .... Frisbee's Mother
• Marji Martin .... Truck Stop Clerk

Photo Gallery of the movie: Spun

Click on one of the thumbnails to see the full size high quality photos, posters and wallpapers of Spun

Spun with Brittany Murphy, Mena Suvari, Patrick Fugit, Jason Schwartzman, John Leguizamo

Reviews of the movie: Spun

"Spun” exhausts all of those camera tricks used in “Requiem for a Dream” and “Trainspotting” that not only have the effect of letting us know how the characters feel under drugs, but making us feel the same way (in a diluted, somewhat less dangerous way). But the surprise about “Spun” is that we end up liking the characters and enjoying the ride, while the film never actually suggests that what the characters are doing is right. That’s just what they do.

For the film’s opening credits, each of the characters’ names is placed after the actor who plays the character. They aren’t just written on the screen; they are announced, in big, wild letters. These characters deserve the comic-book titles; they are big personalities.

The film is, essentially, about a few days in the lives of a group of drug addicts (‘The great thing is I can stop at any time,’ says one, and the audience laughs). There is The Cook (Mickey Rourke), who makes the drug (speed) and sells it to Spider Mike (John Leguizamo), a dealer with a junkie girlfriend, Cookie (Mena Suvari, looking infinitely less attractive than she did in “American Beauty”). One of his clients is Ross (Jason Schwartzman), who does a lot of favours for The Cook and his girlfriend, Nikki (Brittany
Murphy).

That doesn’t sound like the recipe for an entertaining film, but I was surprised at how funny the film was at times. It doesn’t drown us in anti-drug messages, nor does it become one of those, equally tedious, drug films where you feel like the sober driver at a drunken party. The humour is dark, certainly, but funny nevertheless. A lot of it comes from a subplot about Frisbee (Patrick Fugit, from “Almost Famous”) who is caught by a couple of TV policemen (Peter Stormare and Alexis Arquette) and is told he will be let off if he helps them get Spider-Mike. I will only say of the resulting sequence that he does it with all the subtlety of an undercover policeman with his badge stuck to his forehead.

This is a film with a lot of energy, that seems, like its characters, not entirely sure where it is going, but determined to get there, and quickly. Although I am sure it is boring to be surrounded by people on speed when you are sober, this film almost makes you feel like you are on speed too. The director, Jonas Åkerlund, has directed music videos in the past, and it shows in his impatient filming style, as he plays around with animation, speeded-up camerawork and such like.

I’m not recommending the film for its style though, although I am sure it is the best way this material could get to the screen. I am recommending it because I liked the main characters, which I think will stick in my head for much longer than the animated sex scenes or the split screens. I can imagine an entire film about The Cook and Nikki, or Spider Mike and Cookie, or even just Ross, who absentmindedly keeps leaving a girl handcuffed to his bed for hours/days. What makes “Spun” better than those hypothetical films is that it puts the characters into their own little community, and we feel as if we are watching their everyday, speeded up, sleepless lives.

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.