Customer Reviews

Spun

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

So, most people have never experienced anything close to the heavy drug use depicted in this film.

At first glance, Spun is exceedingly obscene and pornographic, and the editing is enough to make anyone dizzy. However, not only does it excellently depict the drug sensations, the movie has a moral as well. I fully believe that the lack of character development and plot (according to numerous critics) is intentional -- drug abuse doesn't just suddenly get a happy ending, nor does it have any essential purpose beyond the feelings of the drugs.

And in the end, that's what this movie delivers: the experience of a pointless week-long meth binge, and a glimpse at the kind of life few of us would believe exists. Imagine the events of Spun expanded into a year, many years -- people actually live this way, losing days like drops in a bucket of water, doing what they can to get the next high. Extremely important things are simply forgotten, drama explodes as the drugs twist emotions..

There are so many elements of this movie that are thought-provoking, when you get past the layers of grime and tweak editing. A great many people won't care to get past the surface, and understandably so.. You might have seen this kind of depravity in the first half of A Clockwork Orange, but never presented in such a visceral way. Beneath the surface is a silent cautionary tale -- everything from constantly blinking Fasten Seatbelts lights to Ross taking another bump as you cringe "again??" and prepare for another sensory assault..

If this film takes you nowhere, perhaps that is exactly the point.

Love the presentation, 5 stars =)

A wide-awakeup call, in fact. About five days worth. That's the amount of 24 hour cycles, Ross, the central character spins through in this relentless movie. Yes, this film is derivative. Shades of Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (the animation sequences, especially), David Lynch's Lost Highway (a repeated shot of the dark, empty highway ahead, illuminated only by the car's headlights), D.J. Caruso's The Salton Sea (also about tweakers, with Mickey Rourke here substituting for Vincent D'Onofrio as Mr. Space Cowboy, menace 2 society, honkeytonk hairtrigger), and Darren Aranofsky's cutting-edge, Requiem for a Dream (similar downward spiralling of characters and not too dissimilar an ending).

So why the five stars, you ask? Because this film, while borrowing heavily from its sources, is still entirely original and innovative. Swedish born director, Jonas Akerlund has taken his music video sensibility and "tweaked" it to an extreme, combining visual and aural sensations in entirely novel ways. The camera work must be seen to be believed. Reviewers who denigrate the script are missing the point. This movie is about the camera. This is not herky-jerky, cinema verite, hand held camera work we're talking about here. This is carefully story-boarded, minutely crafted creativity at play. There are shots that could only have occured to a director who is either as crazy as his characters are (or as drug addled) or to someone possessing something along the lines of cinematic genius. Maybe it's a combination of all these. As this is Akerlund's first foray into feature films, I guess we'll just have to wait for his next movie (Lords of Dogtown, in pre-production) to decide. Don't worry yourselves about from whom, or from what, Akerlund is borrowing. Real artists worth their salt openly acknowledge that they're only building on the works of those who have come before them. I have a sneaking suspicion that Akerlund might be an artist to reckon with in the future.

BEK

I decided to rent this film after reading reports of a serious methamphetamine epidemic in my hometown. Already having some brief experience with this scene and its denizens - some acquaintances of mine in college indulged/abused the substance - I pretty much knew what to expect, and in that regard *Spun* hit all the right notes, reconfirming the horrid extremities that make up this by-the-moment existence of abuse, degradation and constant, unsatisfied addiction.

*Spun* chronicles three days ("three? or four? or three?") in the transient lives of So-Cal tweakers. The characters are vividly drawn, complete with excellent costume-garb and cartoonish titles. We begin with: the paranoid dealer Spider Mike (John Leguizamo), his filthy girlfriend Cookie (Mena Suvari), and a necronerd ADD poseur by the name of Frisbee. These, however, are periphery to the triumvirate of Ross (Jason Schwartzman), a greasy-looking everyman; Nikki (Brittany Murphy) a implausible-fit methhead whom he meets at Spider Mike's, and her paramour The Cook (Mickey Rourke), a meth-chemist, pusher and stoned philosopher. The `plot' consists of this cast scoring, snorting, smoking and/or shooting their drug of choice, and how, afterward, the ways they seek to acquire more tweak and/or cope with said lifestyle.

To be more specific, the main thread of *Spun* hinges around Ross carting Nikki and The Cook about in his battered Volvo on various missions, scoring little bags of dope as a reward. "How long have you managed to stay up on this stuff?" Ross asks The Cook during one such errand. "Twelve or thirteen days," Mickey Rourke replies in a typical performance: the cowboy-burnout, world-weary and impeccably `cool': but this method of madness actually enhances *Spun* tremendously. Rourke gives a standout performance in his career, and the tenuous relationship of mentor/protégé between Ross and The Cook slowly exposes, by jerk and twitter, the unifying thread by which these people manage to make it day-in, day-out: burning the candle at both ends, looking ever forward to the next hit and ignoring the damage wrought in the meantime.

It's rather unfortunate that *Spun* borrows quite heavily from a number of films, for the audience finds itself forced to compare the movie with its predecessors. *Requiem for a Dream* is the most obvious influence, with the constant eye-surge shots and several key editing techniques, as is *Trainspotting* - the opening monologue practically invites comparison - and indeed, the juxtaposition of grimy addiction-subsistence and zany humor makes *Spun* a photo negative of the latter example. *Trainspotting* worked in large part to its `lust for life', the strangely uplifting quality to the writing and character development. The same cannot be said for this film: despite moments of earned levity and some truly bizarre animation sequences (the video-game hallucination standing out as particularly disturbing to these eyes), *Spun* is dark, negative and grim - just like meth - but it fails to successfully balance its humor and drama, struggling to find even ground in the integration of tragedy and comedy.

This unevenness is epitomized in the undercover cop subplot, which should have been excised from the film in my opinion, or at least radically reworked. For 1) it's not particularly funny, at least not anywhere near as funny as it tries to be 2) it's a cliché 3) it comes off contrived, breaking the spell of the movie, and 4) the attempted parody - 70's style copper-drama editing and dialogue - serves in ultimately subverting the pain and emotive catharsis intrinsic in the meth-abuse material.

Still, the way the director manages to combine and build upon his varied influences suggests an artist who has skillfully emulated and synthesized these elements a la Quintin Tarentino; hopefully on future films he will be able to step beyond homage and fashion something (breathtakingly) original. Above all else, *Spun* certainly shows promise.

~Potential Spoilers:~
The last image, beautifully shot, can be taken literally... but I wonder, given the (general) competence The Cook displays throughout. Rather, I prefer to see it as a symbol for how these addicts subsist: fuel for the constant burn.
~End Spoilers~

World religions tend to focus on the dichotomy of a Heaven and a Hell - tranquility for the blessed, punishment for the wicked. In my view, Heaven and Hell is a metaphor for how people choose to spend their lives; and for a fairly accurate scrutiny of Hell in its refined form, look no further than *Spun* and its assortment of damned souls. One glimpse should be enough.

'Spun' follows the lives of several methamphetamine addicts through their wasted, roller coaster days, but this is not your ordinary 'drug' film. The ambience and atmosphere is so in-tuned with this degenerated culture that you can smell the illegal drugs cooking. Giving the plot away would be moot, since it is a portrayal of everyday life for people of this particular scene.

So, what separates 'Spun' from the rest of the drug flicks? Gritty realism, hilariously bizarre scenes, atmosphere, some great acting, and a complete lack of fear on the part of the creator and the director to dive into the nastiest of behaviors and expose them as pathetic and comical.

The sets are what you will see in real life meth houses. The dress and behavior of the characters is very realistic. My only real problem with the movie is that some of the jerk/flash camera work gets a little annoying, but still serves its purpose of bringing the "tweak" to the screen.

Interspersed in the film are some ridiculous cartoon scenes that are a riot, and two cops that parody TV shows like "Cops" and "Bounty Hunters", along with flash stills and hilarious action music. I am going to be haunted forever by the Spider Mike (John Leguizamo) scene where he is jumping up and down on the bed with a sock on his unit while abusing himself. You'll see what I mean, Leguizamo is brilliant in his role.

Mickey Rourke has proven himself to be quite an actor, a chameleon who can adapt to any role. In 'Spun', he plays The Cook, a nasty loosing white trash cowboy type who cooks the dope for the gang. Watch for Ross's (Jason Schwartzman) hallucination of The Cook's all-American speech in the video store. "Ask not what the kitty can do for you (substitute the 'P' word for kitty), but what you can do for the kitty."

Look for a surprising performance from Brittany Murphy (Just Married, Sin City) as Nikki. The more I see of Brittany's work, the more I like her as an actress. Eric Roberts (playing The Man) may have had one bad role after another, but his part in 'Spun' is perfect for him and very well done. The Man, with his earring and his muscle boys and his overdone lisp was too funny to watch. Roberts worked with Rourke in 'The Pope Of Greenwich Village' back in the early 80's, and its plain that they still mesh as actors.

Watch for Debra Harry (80's group Blondie) as Ross's nosy neighbor, and Ron Jeremy, the king of p*rn, as the bartender in the strip club. All in all, 'Spun' is a movie with a serious twist that will leave you laughing in the wake of the character's bizarre activities. This is one of the best drug/bad behavior movies I have watched, right up there with 'Requiem For A Dream' and 'Kids'. Truly, a must-see movie. Enjoy!

"Spun" follows the three days of one name "Ross" (Jason Schwartzman) who always needs some chemical substance, and has no will of his own. But "Spun" is free from violence, typical image associated with this kind of anti-hero; instead, it features the incredibly explicit sexual matters that would either disgust or enetrtain you, and a very realistic portrait of the guy who is leading an aimless life.

And like his aimless life, "Spun" at first seems going on without particular sense of story. But to be fair, it has several funny moments, mainly coming from Leguizamo and Rourke, both something to do with sexual things. In fact, the film gets better as it goes on, especially after the plot about the police and its documentary is introduced. The police raid scene shot in the mock police docu-style is not to be missed.

The film virtually about Ross, who works for a drug dealer (and maker) "The Cook" played by Mickey Rourke. Around them you see many strange people, some on drug, all seemingly unemployed but do not care about it. They all have some unique personality, as the unique cast represent -- see the following list as ...

John Leguizamo as "Spider" in leather pants; Mena Suvari as "Cookie," his love (with one scene that could be career killing in bathroom); Britney Murphey as "Nikki" living with "The Cook" (and she really loves her green-painted dog); Patrick Fugit as incredibly gross-out "Frisbee" directly coming from the "Pink Flanmingo" family; Deborah Harry as "Lesbian Neighbor" and Eric Roberts as "The Man"

Also, you see the faces like Larry Drake, Charlotte Ayanna, Peter Stormare and Alexis Arquette, the last two being "The Cops."

Swedish director Jonas Akerlund, famous for his numerous music videos, brings all of his techniques into this film, in which few things happen. Overflowing light and slanted camera angles with a fast cutting work at first, but gradually get tedious. Still, the music is good, handled by Billy Corgan (himself briefly seen as "The Doctor").

Quite unusual film, even including animation sections, "Spun" is so good at showing the aimless life of junkies that you might hate it because of the honesty. But the fact remains that some of the parts are truly hilarious, and Mickey Rourke (and his biceps) is quite impressive.

I've seen all kinds of movies, and a LOT of all kinds of movies at that. Hell, I work at Blockbuster! But I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this before. If you know that this film is directed by someone previously know for directing music videos, you will be slightly less surprised by this spectacle, for many scenes have a very music video like quality. I never would have thought this would work for a movie, but if it ever did, it would work on a drug movie. Shocking, that there's a connection to be made between musicians and drugs...

This movie is truly visionary. Every scene is gorgeously directed, some featuring animation, purposely campy special effects, fast motion, or random sound samples. It really is the kind of thing one really can't describe. Just know, it REALLY feels like you're spun too.

Each character is played to a tee, without exception. Brittney Murphy is surprising convincing, as is Mena Suvari. John Leguizamo is hilariously tragic, Mickey Rourke is great, particularly toward the end, and Jason Schwartzman, who is probably the weakest of the characters, is still excellent. The only problem with all the characters in general is that they really don't seem to exist on this earth. They have no past and no significance.

This acts as both a strength and a weakness of the film. It's a strength because it really brings you into the mind of a speed freak; no future, no past, barely even a present. It acts as a weakness because instead if it being a hard-hitting look at drugs in society, it's a little too easy to detach from. It doesn't leave you with the right impression. Instead of making you really think about drugs, it leaves you instead with "what a gritty, visual piece," and once you've said that, you can easily forget about it.

The music was provided by ZWAN's Billy Corgan. At first I was happy to see his name in the opening credits, wondering what some solo material might sound like. While I liked the music itself, it added a fairly inappropriate tone to the film. If the director did mean for this to be a somewhat light piece, why did they add music that sounds so soulful and thought-provoking? It makes it seem like the director was trying for something, and that he failed miserably. I get why one would nab Billy Corgan to do music for this though. I'd expect they were looking more for material like "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" or ever "Ava Adore"; something a little rougher, a little more Smashing Pumpkins and less ZWAN, which in my opinion would have been much better.

All in all, it's a must-see movie.

A lot of the criticism I've read about this movie has to do with the editing. To which I say: did all those jump cuts make you jumpy? Well, that's probably the point - to try and propel you the viewer into the confused and addled mindset of a fiending meth junkie. MY only problem is - once that point is made, the rest of the movie is kind of pointless (although, maybe the other point was to make a movie that's as much of a mess as the characters it represents. And while that wouldn't exactly be a propitious goal, at least it's a goal that they reached).

Granted, some of the skittish shots are beautifully composed - clearly it was a labor of (unrequited?) love to assemble so many artful shots only to run rampant with the jump cut Ginsu knife. And the opening title sequence is gorgeous. I could have watched it forever (which is both good and bad, since what I'm ultimately saying is this movie would have worked better as a music video).

It's a fine line (and one of the only ones that doesn't get snorted in the film), but sometimes a movie's style can get in the way of its substance. And, in the worst cases, sometimes its style serves to mask a lack of substance. This film suffers symptoms from both of these syndromes. I appreciate its aim, but for me the target was never quite hit.

The "comic" moments aren't that funny and the serious moments are undermined by the previous attempts at comedy. The acting is a bit forced and tone-deaf at times (Mena Suvari is surprisingly stilted and just can't seem to be convincingly hyperactive, but Brittany Murphy is actually really good).

The writing is subpar - there are no truly memorable lines that stuck in my mind (for which these kinds of movies are usually reliable). Plot? Not really. Guy drives around, leaves a girl in bed, tries to call his girlfriend. Which would be fine, if the movie was a slice of life or a character study, but this doesn't really feel like much of either.

Most of the celebrity cameos (Rob Halford of Judas Priest, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, Ron Jeremy of porn) are distracting and kind of useless (still, I can't bring myself to type anything mean about Debbie Harry, so I won't).

And by the time Mickey Rourke gets around to telling his "old dog" tale to a sleeping Jason Schwartzman, I'm practically comatose myself. So when the movie finally reaches its supposedly explosive climax, I'm numb. I'm spent. I'm spun. I'm done. Again, maybe that's the point. But it ain't no fun.

I'd like to give this movie 2.5 stars, but since I have to round up or down, I'll give it credit for being ambitious in what it's trying to do (as well as being so visually intoxicating) and round up to three.

Watching this film, which plays like a drug addict's nightmare in rehab, was disturbing! It is really a fascinating film which will make you laugh and repulse you at the same time. The entire cast play very realistic pathetic characters with some interesting camera work and animated cut scenes round out this very original film. This film isn't for everyone, but if you like these types of movies, this is a must see! The DVD transfer is very good and there are some cool extras.

Wow, I just viewed "Spun" the other night and I thought this movie was outrageous. This is sort of a guilt-pleasure movie but you want to take shower afterwards.

"Spun" has an impressive cast of recognized actors. The film is, essentially, about a few days in the lives of a group of drug addicts. There is The Cook (Mickey Rourke, he truly makes this story worth watching), who makes the drug (speed) and sells it to Spider Mike (John Leguizamo), a dealer with a junkie girlfriend, Cookie (Mena Suvari, looking infinitely less attractive than she did in "American Beauty"). One of his clients is Ross (Jason Schwartzman), who does a lot of favours for The Cook and his girlfriend, Nikki (Brittany Murphy).

I was surprised at how funny the film was at times. It doesn't drown us in anti-drug messages, nor does it become one of those, equally tedious, drug films where you feel like the sober driver at a drunken party. The humour is dark, certainly, but funny nevertheless. A lot of it comes from a subplot about Frisbee, Patrick Fugit, who is caught by a couple of TV policemen (Peter Stormare and Alexis Arquette) and is told he will be let off if he helps them get Spider-Mike. I will only say of the resulting sequence that he does it with all the subtlety of an undercover policeman with his badge stuck to his forehead.

This is a film with a lot of energy, that seems, like its characters, not entirely sure where it is going, but determined to get there, and quickly. Although I am sure it is boring to be surrounded by people on speed when you are sober, this film almost makes you feel like you are on speed too. The director, Jonas Åkerlund, has directed music videos in the past, and it shows in his impatient filming style, as he plays around with animation, speeded-up camerawork and such like.

I'm not recommending the film for its style though, although I am sure it is the best way this material could get to the screen. I am recommending it because I liked the main characters, which I think will stick in my head for much longer than the animated sex scenes or the split screens. I can imagine an entire film about The Cook and Nikki, or Spider Mike and Cookie, or even just Ross, who absentmindedly keeps leaving a girl handcuffed to his bed for hours/days. What makes "Spun" better than those hypothetical films is that it puts the characters into their own little community, and we feel as if we are watching their everyday, speeded up, sleepless lives. Simply amazing.

All I can say about this movie is it will definitely keep you awake and on the edge of your seat. (Think GO with a bunch of real drugs) The characters were a great mix and showed a rougher side to the female actors. I especially liked the raw way everyone was portrayed and nothing was out of bounds for this film. This was another example of a decent story line with the actors making it fun and edgy. If you don't like cussing and drugs, stay away. This film is definitely NOT a chick flick. It is for the serious film watcher who enjoys dark drama/comedy.