Cocaine: One Man's Seduction

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!

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.

A real estate salesman (Dennis Weaver) with career and marriage problems gets hooked on cocaine, and finds that not only does it not help him cope with them, but it makes them much, much worse.

What is not to love about this film? We have a young James Spader and a drug-addicted Jeffrey Tambor. That already makes it good no matter what happens. And then we get to learn about the evils of peer pressure! What we end up finding out is that cocaine causes you to make "lewd offers" to your spouse and encourages you to re-arrange your spices. While not an "after school special", it was a made-for-TV movie that was clearly designed to show how cocaine use can spiral out of control.

I have never used cocaine and probably never will. But films like this are not what make me steer clear. In fact, I found this film humorous in a strange way. Not that it was inaccurate -- it is probably very close to the truth. But there is an unintentional humor not unlike that found in "Reefer Madness".

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!