Drugstore Cowboy

This movie has much personal meaning to me. In 1990, I had the unfortunate pleasure to be incarcerated at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Stewart(Carson City, NV.) Yea, we had cable TV, and first run movies. This was one of them. After viewing the movie, I laughed w/ my co-horts about suing for copy right infringement. (joking, of coarse). My prison stint was drug related. but the interesting thing is: I and my girlfriend at the time made these sames moves:(Seizures and all)at a southwestern state small town where the Dilaudids were actually kept on the shelf.(1981-83)We hit this one pharmacy -3- times(largest haul:470 Dilaudids-1,2,3,and 4mg--Smallest: one bottle of 100 # 4's).I lived in Nevada all my life. I did several small stints in several prisons. In closing. I wanted to write this and note, it was a looong time ago. I have lived in Portland ,OR. now for 19 yrs. And I celebrated my -11- year clean anniversary date last Thurs. (8/28/09). After a medical detox, I hooked up w/ a local methadone prgm. and never looked back. It saved MY and my WIFE's life. Take from this what you will. But it's true and I still get a kick out of this movie and "my story" as it relates w/ it. I rarely tell it often. But I did want to post this message. Thank you for allowing me to express myself...Sincerely, doctom1973......

In 1971, in Portland, Bob (Matt Dillon), his girlfriend Dianne (Kelly Lynch) and his friends Rick (James Le Gros) and his girlfriend Nadine (Heather Graham) are smalltime thieves of drugstores and hospitals. They spend their lives drugged and Bob is chased by the abusive police detective Gentry (James Remar). They decide to move to another city and soon Nadine has an OD, affecting Bob that decides to return to Portland and be clean. But he is haunted by his past.

"Drugstore Cowboy" is still a great film after almost twenty years. Gus Van Sant discloses a true story and based on an autobiographical novel by James Fogle. Matt Dillon is amazing and the rest of the lead cast is also fantastic. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Drugstore Cowboy"

Note: On 17 March 2025, I saw this film again.

Excellent movie that stands the test of time and is likely even more relevant today than when it was made. Not exactly a feel good flick but if you're in the mood for a little depressing drama, this movie will not disappoint. Excellent characters, script, and acting. Matt Dillion crushes this role and a young Heather Graham is icing on the cake. Really a well done film across the board, definitely worth seeing

Matt Dillon igives his best performance in this movie, gives an minimalistic, sympathetic portrayal of a junk addict trying to go straight.

The subject matter may be a bit dark for those that like to see life from the "sunny side". It is set after all, in gray, gray, Portland Oregon in the 70's. It deals with a crew of four, two couples, that go around ripping off drugstores for opiates. It does not attempt to judge or condemn this behavior, it just tells the story of a group of junkies, and one of their attempts to go clean and find out what the straight life is like.

Those of you that have experience with any form of substance abuse may find that this movie rings true. I loved the quote by Bob something to the effect of: "In life, you never know one minute to the next how you're going to feel. But a dope fiend just has to look at the labels on the bottles." By no means does this movie glamorize drug use. In fact, it shows it for what it is, a temporary fix that leads nowhere but destruction.

If you're one of the so-called `art-film' aficionados who was disappointed, as I was, by Requiem for a Dream (and even if you weren't), you'll love Drugstore Cowboy. Directed by the man who gave us such classics as To Die For and Good Will Hunting, Drugstore Cowboy is, without doubt, Van Sant's greatest work. It's a magnificent time capsule from the early seventies, having no reference to the Vietnam War, Kent State, or any other icon of the period. It's purely about the drug subculture.

Set along the affluent north Atlantic seaboard, where pharmacies and drugstores litter the urban landscape, the drama revolves around four friends who support their drug habits by robbing the official dispensaries of addictive substances. An interesting and compelling setup all by itself, in lesser hands, the script and action would be enough to produce a decent flick; but, it goes way beyond that. Matt Dillon gives what I think is his best performance ever, a perfectly charming substance abuser who has created a little cocoon of a world all to himself. Like little moons revolving around his dreamy and sometimes terrifying little world, the drugstores he stalks all promise a one-way trip to a different place. As viewers, we're all sucked in by the gravity of his world, such that we even begin to understand and believe his peculiar little superstitious rituals. In this special existence, they make sense. To transgress against the rules is to court disaster. And like Adam in the garden, he eventually breaks his own rules, and pays the price.

But it's a fortunate fall from grace. Drugstore Cowboy is completely realistic in its portrayal of the full-blown addict's hitting rock bottom, an experience that is foundational in the wisdom of AA. The recovery scenes are moving in their sincerity and simplicity, none of which is sugarcoated or saccharine. And yet, the recovery scenes are both joyous and heartbreakingly poignant. God, what a great movie.