Cocaina

It's too bad more high-quality TV movies like this aren't being put out on DVD - though, at least, this film is currently available for streaming on Hulu and other sites. This is by far the most concise movie of any kind to deal with the pitfalls of cocaine addiction, much better than big-budget theatrical treatments like "The Boost" and "Blow." Dennis Weaver gives one of his best performances as the harried, self-pitying real estate agent who is convinced by a slightly disturbing (and oh-so-eighties-looking) couple that coke will help him make millions in the luxury home market. In fact, Weaver is so good it has always struck me as strange that his obituaries never even mentioned this work. The supporting cast is excellent (except for Karen Grassle as the cloyingly sweet simpleton of a wife) with James Spader being cast against type - at least, future type - as Weaver's clean-cut son. In fact, were a remake of this movie ever to be produced, it would make perfect sense to have Spader play Dennis' part. A great movie that is well worth looking at online ... or, if you can hunt it down, on VHS!

McCloud ditches stetson and tin flute for funky '80's leather-Jackson-jacket as old Mr Charles begins to burn a hole in his fashion sense as well as pocket. A tour-de-force performance by Dennis Weaver as dead-beat real estate loser Eddie Gant, transformed into a Caddy-driving high-roller thanks to Bolivia's finest export until inevitable excess leads to a pathetic, whimpering finale, a hospitalised Weaver unable to look his family in the eye whilst bubbling, "I'm so ashamed. I'm so ashamed!" Marvelous!

David Ackroyd tells Dennis Weaver the same thing that John Kapoles would say to James Woods in THE BOOST... that they need a boost... which means cocaine... and while both that movie and this TV-movie (that came out before) both got bad reviews, they're both, well... very addictive pieces of entertainment...

Watching a hippie get high is like watching a fish swim... but seeing an otherwise conservative Willy "Death of a Salesman" Loman type blasting coke up his nose is always fun to watch, and of course quite rare, and Dennis Weaver, known for playing either tough or frantic roles, kind of balances both here...

His good wife's Karen Grassle, his good son's James Spader, his semi-wild buddy's Jeffrey Tambor and the truly wild office flirt, who introduced him to the dealer to gave him a boost, is Pamela Bellwood, so the cast is sublime...

But what makes this work is the realistic arc into his addiction and how the drug is treated here: first helping his fledgling sales (the best part) until the monkey starts showing, aka, he becomes a scene...

The more Dennis does coke the more he strays from McCloud and morphs into the zany motel worker in Touch of Evil, and overall, whether soberly depressed or high as a kite or crashing like one, does a fantastic job, not overacting like he could have... meaning, he really seems high on coke, not some old actor putting us on.

It could be that the anti-drug movie is one of the hardest to pull off. Even with great setups and decent performances, they can come off as bathos-drenched soap-opera hell ("The Boost" always comes to mind, and it doesn't help when the lead actor acts like he's on crack when he's sober).

"Cocaine: One Man's Addiction," while possibly having one of the most ridiculous titles in TV-Movie history, actually works due to the ordinariness and realism of the characters and plots. There isn't anything here that's going to shock or amaze you: just an ordinary guy sending himself down the toilet and wondering how he got there. But it gets to you, simply because it's so low-key. Dick Van Dyke did something similar with "The Morning After," but it never seemed as life-threatening or desperate as it does here.

Weaver portrays an aging real estate agent who's finding himself edged out of the company he helped build. While he gives his usual competent performance, the real sparks fly from some of the supporting actors, notably Jeffrey Tambor, as a friend of Weaver's whose binge with coke nearly drove him to suicide, and a teenage James Spader, who brings an easy realism (and pain) to the role of Weaver's disaffected son.

With Pamela Bellwood, nicely playing a poignantly injured casual user who initially lures Weaver toward his doom and a mis-cast Karen Grassle, who looks simply uncomfortable throughout.

Unbelievable this hasn't been released on DVD yet!

Those old enough should remember how controversial 'One Man's Seduction' was, when first broadcast in 1983. Back then, most television viewers could only access about a dozen channels, so these TV movies remained a big deal at that point.

It was considered a brave move on Weaver's part to even take this role, despite the rampant cocaine abuse that peaked in mainstream America during the early 1980s.

And does he make the most of it! You haven't enjoyed Dennis at his best until you see this one. Also, Pamela Bellwood never looked better than she does here, and should have earned an Emmy nomination for her supporting role as Weaver's unwitting enabler.