Dope Sick Love

This is what actually happens in real life, or even worse.

One of the most macabre, depressing, yet eye-opening docs. I've watched in awhile. There's no narration or story that's told, just a "third eye" type camera following around 2 couples of heroin addicts in NYC through the seasons. Watching them shoot up on the floors of public washrooms then "clean" their needles in the public toilets... sometimes it's a bit too much and you need to hit pause just to go for a breather.

Anyone currently in recovery of alcohol/drug addition should watch this when they're craving - it really shows you to what you could be going back to! After seeing this it's a wonder how anyone could even try this drug to begin with.

The only thing it needed was a follow up at the end to tell where these people are today. Judging from what is shown in the doc., there's no hope for any of them. They mention wanting to get better and quit, but it seems the only end to their habits is to quit by way of dying.

This definitely isn't for all audiences. I found myself kind of like watching a car accident - after I started watching it I just couldn't turn it off. I had to keep watching with a dark/morbid fascination of what it's like inside the lives of these addicts.

"Dope Sick Love" is a really remarkable documentary made for HBO about two pairs of heroin addicted lovers roaming the streets of NYC. I managed to catch it one night by accident and found it absolutely mesmerizing. There is no narration and we never see any interviews with the subjects, the camera just follows them around, like a third eye, completely detached. The people being followed don't even seem aware that they're being filmed! (or, at least, they don't seem to care). The footage is amazingly candid. Some of the most candid I've ever seen. This is as real as it gets. The nuts and bolts of what its like to be on the street and addicted to heroin. We watch them score dope, shoot it, make up, hustle, and even impersonate cops to rob people, and about a million other tiny details that less observant documentary filmmakers would leave out.

Some of the footage is truly horrifying. Like watching one guy frantically searching for fix he lost. I found myself praying that he would find it, just so that his misery would temporarily end. And when he does find it, the guy literally dances in the street.

The cyclical nature of drug addiction becomes very apparent while watching this. EVERYTHING is about getting the next score to these folks, yet the next score seems to be well worth the immense trouble they go through.

I would love to get a copy of this, if anyone knows where it is available. Highly recommended, if you can catch it on HBO.

When Michelle gets into Maxima to rip off trick, didn't it seem staged? How are the conversations inside the car recorded very loud and clear? (cameraman is not inside car).Is it recorded with a pocket recorder (or phone) by Michelle and then re-recorded later? Other parts also appeared staged. And were the two couples paid to be in the film? And if not, why would they do it? Another nagging question is: Are these couples homeless? We are never told whether they are sleeping outside or have places.

Still worth 6 stars though.

This documentary was originally part of the America Undercover series produced by HBO and presents a searing view of life at the bottom of the drug culture. Shot in cinema verite by film makers Brent and Craig Renaud there is no narration, no music, and there are no special effects. It documents an 18 month period during which two couples, living on the streets of New York City, struggle day by day, and, sometimes, hour by hour to feed their crack habits. They are caught up in an endless hustle to make the next score, then the next , then the next. This is a film which should be required viewing for any young people who think there is romance in crack addiction.