Sweet Nothing

As several reviews of this film noted, the story of a middle-class person seduced by drugs has been done quite a lot lately. That in itself is not a fault. This movie manages to bring its own perspective to the subject and will hold a viewer's interest.

The main character, Angel (Michael Imperioli), works for some kind of a financial business, but at a pretty low level. He keeps a journal that is extensively quoted from by way of narration. This is a useful device, and not one used solely to make the job of advancing the narrative easier. Through it one gains insight into how easy it is for a person to rationalize selling and using illegal drugs. He tells himself at first that he deserves the money that selling crack brings in. He needs it to provide a good life for his wife and two children. Other people take shortcuts; it's the way of the world. Why shouldn't he? Later he rationalizes the desire to get high, as more and more of his profits go up in smoke. Then he rationalizes crawling headfirst into the crack pipe.

Angel manages to keep a semblance of normal life for some time, but as the desire to get high takes precedent over everything else and as he uses up the almost inexhaustible supply of love given by his wife (Mira Sorvino), the inevitable bottom is finally hit. This movie is commendable in that its main purpose isn't just to see how graphically the squalor of junkie culture can be depicted, though there is plenty of that by the time the film ends. Most frightening is what happens to a friend of Angel's named Raymond (Paul Calderon). While Angel is only concerned with using and getting money to supply his habit, Raymond stays in the business end, becoming a monster capable of any cruelty to protect his own interests. It's a far cry from the buddies we see at the beginning of the film, jubilant over the birth of Angel's second child.

The story was based on journals found in an empty New York apartment. 'Sweet Nothing' mat not be a groundbreaker, but it is a very worthwhile film that makes a niche for itself in a familiar genre.

... About SWEET NOTHING is that all the comments on this page have praised it while 174 voters have only given the movie an average rating of 5.0

My own opinion is that this is a very flawed movie . Take the opening sequence when we`re shown the fate of Angel . Think about that for a moment , as soon as the opening credits stop rolling we know what the ulitimate outcome of Angel`s life is going to be so right away there`s no surprises for the audience . This sums up what`s wrong with the movie - It`s badly written and I can give several instances :

The voice over : Very distracting and it`s not even used as exposition

Gaps missing : Angel tries the crack pipe for the first time and the story jumps via a caption " Three Years Later " . What ? Angel has been a crack fiend for three years ! Strange that there`s been absolutely no consequence of his habit within that time . Very unconvincing

Goof : Angel is a former marine but his former marine buddy refers to him as " Soldier " . Former USMC members would would refer to each other as " Marine " not " Soldier "

Sorry guys but I didn`t think much of SWEET NOTHING . It`s badly structured and not very well acted . It does make the accurate point that no one is forced to take drugs but there`s umpteen better drug movies out there

I caught this one on cable during a night of insomnia. I dialed it in so I could sleep, but it kept me completely awake. The story is small, simple, and familiar. What kept me watching were the wonderful, understated performances by just about everyone, which is usually a tribute to the director as well as the cast. This is not a big film, but it is quite memorable.

I literally looked everywhere for this movie: online, in stores, and in bargain boxes - and yet I couldn't find one copy. I finally ordered a used VHS tape from America, and was able to watch it.

I seriously don't understand why this film never went to DVD. It's a really good, decent, but terrifying movie about a normal, every day family man consumed by crack addiction. His perfect world and mind is torn apart by his drug abuse and dealing, and his family falls apart from him.

This is an early, rare gem of a movie in Michael Imperioli's career, pre-Sopranos. Mira Sorvino had just won her Oscar and is brilliant as the struggling, long suffering wife. Siskle and Ebert gave two thumbs up for the movie, and it was highly praised by everyone who had seen it at the time that it premiered. So it baffles me why it was never released.

I'm so glad I finally got to see it, however. It's a fine add to the collection of anti-drug movies, along with Trainspotting, Requiem for a dream and A Scanner Darkly.

Before she won an Oscar, Mira Sorvino starred in this small but powerful movie about a guy whose seemingly perfect world comes crashing down when he enters the drug trade. Michael Imperioli, who played Spider in "Goodfellas," has a leading role here and does an outstanding job of portraying down-and-out drug dealer and user Angel, but never allows us to dislike him. Throughout his struggle we are right by Angel's side.

Even the ending is not obvious: there is no happy finale, but somehow we know he is on the long road back.