User reviews

In the genre of "drug films" this one has to be, in my opinion, one of the best. The aesthetics and dynamics are spot on. The gritty, filthy and discordant atmosphere encrusted around the typical meth-head's life looks and feels like the real deal here. John Leguizamo and Mena Suvari are dead on in their portrayals of two dysfunctional people in a relationship mixed with sex, love and drugs (or more appropriately, love FOR drugs). Mickey Rourke's character conveys a menacing presence delivered through the actor's characteristic cool and laid back style. Of course Brittany Murphy's character is a continuous delight and pleasure to behold in every way. Even the police presence is entertaining.

The whole package gives the feel of being right there. Not to mention a "healthy dose" of delusional hallucinations for you to chew on in between heart palpitations. If you're looking for a great "druggie" film with a strong comedic undertone, I guarantee you'll get your fix with this one.

This film was great! Many people have compared it to Requiem for a Dream, however I preferred this movie. Requiem accurately depicted drug addiction and how low some people would sink for their next hit. It was a very depressing and powerful movie, not one I would ever want to watch again. You leave the theater feeling extremely drained. Spun is altogether different. The only thing they have in common is their central theme. Spun centers around Ross, the fairly normal speed freak as his addiction takes him farther and farther away from reality.

Initially, I thought the characters were grossly overacted, however as the movie progressed, the opening sequences did not seem as far removed from Ross' world as I had originally thought. It was very interesting to see Ross' character move farther and farther away from reality. It was only a 3-day all-you-can-consume speed trip, however he started off as a normal guy with a drug problem and ended up on Mars, completely detached from reality. I also thought the cartoon sequences were very effective, they accurately demonstrated his impoverished state of mind while he was tripping. The audience got the impression he really was flying in his own world. It was interesting to see the lifestyles of the other people involved in the drug trade, most had been completely dehumanized by their dependence, living in squalor yet completely unaware of their surroundings.

A great film! One that I can watch again for entertainment purposes only, but which also drives home the anti-drug message without being preachy. 8/10

After 16 years it's amazing and depressing how relatable it still is! Cameo's were such a surprise: Debbie Harry, Alexis Arquette, Eric Roberts - everyone did great. Casting was superior!

The show is also extremely gross! Mena in the bathroom was funny & true, but...yeah, I'll save that for you to see for yourself. If you are someone who can't or shouldn't watch graphic scenes of using - this is a big no go for you. Nothing if left to the imagination.

Huge fan of Mr. Rourke- thrilled for his getting back into acting.

Above all lease it made me realize that I miss seeing Ms. Murphy on screen. Amazing actress who left entirely too soon.

The version they show bleeps language and blurs sex scenes.

Wow.

This is a really good illuminating film, about speed, the culture the effect and to censor something so integrally ABOUT fringe life is absurd. And silly. We are adults in a (I guess formerly) free country. Some of Mickey Rourke's best work.

Wow.

How stupid of Amazon.

Spun is a wild ride, an ADD movie that seems to say, `If you don't like what's on screen right now, don't worry it'll change in the next ten seconds.' Director Jonas Akerlund, cut his teeth in the frenetic world of music video and it shows. Spun spins out of control from its opening minutes, shooting out images and plot points willy nilly. This makes Snatch look slow by comparison. If you can keep up with the pace, there is something here. Akerlund takes us deep inside the crystal meth culture, and it is an unnerving but hilarious journey. We meet a group of characters tied together by their association with one man, the crystal meth cook. We get a good sense of the lives of these characters, and even like some of them, no matter how addled they are by their addictions. What we see in Spun isn't story driven as much as it simply a slice of life – a dirty, sped up slice of life. Good performances compliment the material, particularly from Mickey Rourke as the Cook, Jason Schwartzman as the likeable speed freak and John Leguizamo who sheds almost all his inhibitions in this role.

Spun is a tale about drugs, sex and addictions. Ross(Jason Schwartzman)who is a speed freak along with Nikki(Brittany Murphy) are introduced to the perfect speed made by "The Cook"(Mickey Rourke). Along with some other speed freaks including dealer Spider Mike(John Leguizamo) and his girl Cookie(Mena Suvari) their addictions will come to some crazy consequences that could affect their entire future. This was a very crazy and wild movie filled with humor and excitement. The performances are excellent by all actors and their characters were very believable. I would give Spun 7.5/10

This movie is a realistic portrayal of the meth lifestyle, not because it's a realistic movie, but because it's a bunch of tweakers very busy doing nothing. My friend and I laughed during the whole movie because we both knew people who fit the characters in the film perfectly. If you don't know anyone into drugs this movie probably won't appeal to you. The moviemakers get a lot of facets of the lifestyle spot-on, like the importance of the car. The main character is the most important person in the movie, even more important than the cook, because he's got a car. A lot of the movie is spent driving around on various crank-related missions, most of them pointless. And that's really what being a crankster is about, getting high for the sake of getting high and finding ways to fill all that extra time they now have. If the characters come off as blunted and one-dimensional it's because that's how the people they're portraying are.

I saw this film at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival. Boasting a raft of young talent (Jason Schwartzman, Patrick Fugit, Mena Suvari, Brittany Murphy), this is a frantic tale about a group of methamphetamine addicts. Raunchy, disturbing, and often very very funny. The pace does tend to wear out the viewer, though. Since we saw the "unrated" cut, expect the final "R" version to be more manageable in length. Brittany Murphy and John Leguizamo do amazing work here. And the use of sound is quite jarring and effective, too.

I Love this movie, A lot of people might dismiss it as needless strange or, worse, unnecessary. It is great, because it humanizes drug addicts. it shows that a speed freak is never just a speed freak, but a person with a life in distress. too often people with drug addictions are dismissed as eyesores or vagabonds who deserve harsh treatment, but the movie takes us into their lives. Most Importantly, the characters are not supposed to be heroes, they are just a cross-section of junkie culture. plus, the scenes with the cops are hilarious, and seeing Debbie Harry throw a six-pack at a guy's head and then kick him in the gut was priceless. To review, deals with oft over-looked subject matter in an objective way, some great cameos, imaginative film-making, I give it an A-Plus.

I know that you should never expect too much from a music-video director since they almost never deliver. So it must have been the little Swede inside of me that wanted Swedish director Jonas Åkerlunds feature-film debut to be something good. Disappointment guaranteed.

The junkie Ross (Jason Schwartzman) is used as driver by a drug-making cowboy played by Mickey Rourke. It's a three day journey without sleep, constantly twitchy with speed.

This is nothing for people with epilepsy. There are literally thousands of cuts in this movie. And the words "like watching a two hour music video" have never been more true. And while it occasionally does look stylish and slick (the way i imagined Åkerlund wanted the whole movie to look) it still becomes more annoying than entertaining in the end. The whole speed-freak journey with everyone always high and the camera always twitching is simply not working. All the sex and explicit scenes also feel mostly like exploitation in the end since there is so little else going on.

In the end this movie just feels over-worked. Åkerlund tries so hard to make it cool that it falls flat. In the end it doesn't matter how many nods to popular culture he adds, or how many slick shots he pulls off, when the result is a movie that lacks cohesion and entertainment value. I rate this 3/10.

My eyes were wide open through this roller coaster ride of drugs, sex, violence, and drugs. If you are familiar with meth and its addicts, I think, you'll enjoy and at the same time be more sadden watching this film because what you'll see is bits of the truth in the world of meth-heads. Although, I think, some people instead of feeling sympathy for the characters might just be in for a laugh.This film was wonderfully done and casted. All actors in this film, I believe, portrayed their characters very well. They were right on point! Watching this... I got irritated and anxious. A great film and excellently directed. I actually watched this film twice. Yeah... I'm a loser, what can I say?

If you've ever wanted to see William Miller in a Larry Clark movie crossed with the hyper-reality of REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, then look no further. SPUN is an unrated trip through crystal addiction with a lot of strong performances by an eclectic cast, but it faintly reeks of "been-there, done-that" syndrome.

Not that it's not entertaining as it goes along. A few days in the lives of various speed freaks produces all sorts of sleaze: Masturbation, phone sex, zits, rotting teeth, bowel movements, naked obesity, bondage, squalor, trashy reality TV, animation, pornography, animated pornography, and so on.

Max Fischer (Jason Schwarzbaum) is Ross, a casual addict who falls into the role of a chauffer of the local manufacturer, dubbed the Cook (Mickey Rourke, in the film's most realized performance), who's with Nikki (Brittany Murphy), who's overly concerned with the well-being of Taco, her green dog. Her best friend is Cookie (Mena Suvari), who's the girlfriend of the local drug distributor (John Leguizamo). ALMOST FAMOUS' Patrick Fugit, looking like he'd be right at home in Gummo, is the naive punk wannabe who is forced by the cops to rat on his supplier. On the fringes are Rob Halford, Debbie Harry, a fey Eric Roberts, and Dr. Giggles himself, Larry Drake. Meanwhile, Ross has got a stripper chained bare-ass naked to his bed while he drives both the Cook and Nikki around town, taking care of the local kingpin's professional needs and her neuroses and penchant for snorting crystal.

But this plot doesn't really matter. SPUN seems more concerned to ape the visual ideas of REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, like the dilated pupils and jumps in sound effects. It doesn't exactly imitate REQUIEM, but the similarity seems more than a coincidence. And I'll mention again the animation: Think Ralph Bakshi's orgiastic imagination, and you'll begin to know just how gloriously perverted some of the whacked-out imagery is.

SPUN is certainly not boring, but it goes on too long. There's only so many visual effects one can withstand before all the visual volume becomes noise. But if you're craving KIDS meets TRAINSPOTTING, SPUN does just fine.

7/10

Spun is undoubtedly a film that will get a lot of attention. Fast cuts, plenty of sex and drugs, outrageous characters, and good music. Unfortunately most of the attention it will receive is from people with very short attention spans. The fact that it took two people to write a film where no one says anything relevent is enough to make me long for the days of a drug movie with some substance and wit (ie: Trainspotting). Mickey Rourke is the lone savior of this film from getting a rating of zero. Why couldn't he get more roles like this in the eighties? What a vile, loathesome character. The thing that most people won't understand is that Spun is a comedy, most of the characters are designed to make you laugh out loud, unfortunately, there is nothing funny about most of the subject matter. It is ugly and pathetic, which wouldn't be a problem if it only knew what it was trying to tell you. Spun suffers from the toocoolsyndrome (ie: The Doom Generation), in which the filmmaker is obviously trying to make you think his film is really hip and cutting edge in an attempt to mask its shortcomings in the script and the subject matter, how many rock star cameos do you really need, ("Dude it's Billy Corgan!"). This film makes no intelligent attempt at an anti-drug message,(ie:Requiem for a Dream, which Spun blatantly steals from with no shame), therefore much like Alex Cox's Sid & Nancy, it glorifies its subject matter which is kind of irresponsible, sure the characters may have really bad acne or relationship problems or bad teeth, but so do most non drug using teens. Jason Shwartzman and Patrick Fugit once had some Hollywood promise, after Rushmore, Shwartzman made the awful Slackers and now this, Fugit whose innocence was so charming in the otherwise awful Almost Famous, takes the cake as the most annoying character in the history of film, truly an embarrassment and a pox on his career, I just kept wishing someone would shoot him, along with co star Brittany (TheLatterDayMelanieGriffith) Murphy. There is one scene in which Deborah Harry,(Cool Dude! Blondie!) assaults an abusive male character after he abuses his girlfriend, after which, in what I assume is supposed to be a compliment, Mickey Rourke's character calls her a tough "Dyke". Cloudy message indeed, after standing up for the plight of abused women, the script turns on them by insulting a gay woman's sexuality. Hip post 90s directors need to ease up on all the fast editing and hip factor to attempt to create a film in which style and substance work together to create the desired effect (ie: McCabe & Mrs. Miller). The problem with music video director Jonas Akerlund is that he doesn't seem to know what effect he wants to spin, resulting in a film that is all dressed up but has no place to go but down. One of the worst films I have ever seen. 1 out of 10

I'm pretty happy to admit that I probably didn't get the most out of Spun. Reading through reviews and IMDb message boards I've found people praising it over and over again for being the most realistic presentation of meth-addicts' life-style ever put on film. That's quite possibly the case; never having taken meth I have no idea. Indeed, it seems that every glaring review comes from someone who has a history with the drug, so I assume the portrayal is accurate. As it is, I can only review Spun based on what I got out of it - which is an interesting film, but definitely not a masterpiece.

By itself, Spun has its merits. It's an atmospheric piece, with excellent cinematography and editing; Although it relies too heavily on editing tricks, and almost everything it does was done before in similar ways in more memorable drug-films like Requiem for a Dream, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas and Dazed & Confused. It managed to bring in an impressive collection of actors, both for the leads and for cameos - Jason Schwartzman, Patrick Fugit, Mena Suvari, John Leguizamo and Peter Stormare in one film are a indie-loving hipster's wet dream - and they all do an excellent job, but their characters aren't very interesting. The film manages to convey the idea that methheads are real people with real emotions, but it hammers that idea into the viewer's head over and over again without saying much else.

To explain - what Spun lacks, for me, isn't plot per se. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas or Trainspotting didn't have much of a plot either. But Spun has no depth or heart either. It puts the viewer into the meth experience, it shocks and unnerves - as it should - but it's not enough to make us care. The regular explanation that it's a film for methheads that only methheads will enjoy may have truth to it, but if so its value as a film is questionable. If it's meant to convey an anti-drug message, it's preaching to the choir - because only former meth addicts will know how realistic and thus how tragic it is, while to the rest of us it looks like a zany, trashy, sexy comedy that enjoys the drugs almost as often as it derides them.

A six-star rating usually relates to a mediocre or forgettable movie - Spun is anything but. It's also not a bad movie. It's interesting and unusual, but it misses its mark for most of the audience, and it's not original or interesting enough to be worth watching simply as a visual piece. It's funny enough and has enough good acting - Mickey Rourke is of particular note, in the role that may have been the harbinger of his current comeback - but in the end it'll mostly leave you confused.

Spun is all about methamphetamine addicts and their supplier (the Cook). The film is an incredible mix of humor and desperation showing addicts losing everything to get their fix. All of the characters are at the lowest rung of society whether they realize it or not, but somehow the movie finds humor in a place that most would describe as hell.

Ross (Jason Schwartzman) is a meth addict whose girlfriend has left him. His connection, Spider Mike (John Leguizamo), keeps losing the supplies that he gets from the Cook (Mickey Rourke). Among Spider's usual gang of idiots includes his significant other, the annoying Cookie (Mena Suvari) and Frisbee (Patrick Fugit) who seem to just want to hang around and get high. On one visit, the Cook's girlfriend, Nikki (Brittany Murphy) recruits Ross to take care of the Cook's transportation needs (Ross seems to be the only one of them who owns a car). Frisbee gets busted by the cops and is set up as an informant to get Spider and hopefully someone further up the chain.

The film is what I assume being on meth is like (I've never done it and have no urge to do it), it's fast paced at times, but seems to be intentionally slow at others. The director used quite a few clips of things that already happened, hallucinations and animation to show what is going on. Sometimes directors go overboard with these techniques, but here it really works. You feel like these things are happening in the characters' heads and that they're on a roller-coaster. What really makes this film work is the cast. This is definitely an ensemble. In addition to the actors I already mentioned; Deborah Harry plays Ross' lesbian neighbor, Rob Halford of Judas Priest plays the porn shop clerk, and Billy Corgan plays a doctor. Eric Roberts makes an appearance as the Man (the Cook's boss), and Pete Stormare and Alexis Arquette as a pair of cops who want to bust the meth ring.

I really enjoyed this film, but it is a trip. After watching it, you feel strung out.

Jason Schwartzman plays an ordinary guy floating on the margins of the Crank Head culture, crossing paths with dealers, strippers, TV reality show cops (led by a mullet-sporting Peter Stormare), and other assorted fringe dwellers, all of them desperate, crazed and wrong in their own unique fashion. Jason drives for a wrestling addicted drug chemist (Mickey Rourke in a shambling, grunting, full bodied performance that pre-saged his work in the Wrestler) who is admired for his rough cowboy demeanor but who reveals himself over time to be a selfish exploiter. In between trips to convenient stores to buy drug making supplies, Jason slides in and out of an occasionally cartoonish (literally so, animation and all) twisted reality as he engages in the sort of drug seeking behavior that is the daily and even hourly existence of the drug user. This is not a serious look at drug use and its consequences, however, but rather a trippy slice-of-lowlife wander through the motels, strip bars, trailer parks and porn shops where the bottom feeders of the drug world live. One detail of their lives which is not overlooked by the camera is that 'tweakers' are so caught up the chase for their next high that they have perpetual ADHD, living lives of neglect surrounded by the debris of half-finished jobs and empty pizza boxes. Yuck. Look fast for rock heavyweights Debbie Harry (Blondie) as Jason's neighbor and Rob Halford (Judas Priest) as a porn shop manager.

Amusing and memorable as a movie, but pay attention to the language advisory. The script is as foul-mouthed as anything since the Sopranos went off the air.

This happens to be my favorite movie of all time. A lot of people misunderstand this movie when they watch it. YES, the movie does not have a real point, but it does show you how the speed life is. This movie does a great job portraying that, better than any movie i've seen. You could categorize this movie as educational if you wanted. If you know anybody on speed and you you want to know how it's like, watch this and you'll get the picture. This is the best movie in drug cinema. There need to be more films like this.

It also has a great cast. I'm surprised and disappointed to see this movie never got to the mainstream. I guess people shy from the truth.

"Spun" (2002): Starring Jason Schwartzman, Mickey Rourke, Brittany Murphy, John Leguizamo, Patrick Fugit, Mena Suvari, Chloe Hunter, Deborah Harry, Eric Roberts, etc.. My reactions are mixed. I'll try to keep it simple: First, I'm very glad to see artists trying different approaches to film making. Many of the techniques used in "Spun" are effective for illustrating the pathetic mental/emotional/drug states of crystal meth addicts. Schwartzman is good as the one-foot-in, one-foot-out addict, who, although the main character, is a satellite to the addicts who are in much deeper. Rourke is solid as the drug "cook" - cold, lost, unpredictable, with a self-styled version of "war-torn honor"; Murphy is very good as the fragile, broken meth addict whose life is a total wreck yet she clings to a sad fantasy about improvement; Leguizamo is the paranoid dealer with an anger that flashes from nowhere for no real reason and keeps everyone tense; Fugit is the totally lost kid who hasn't a clue, never did, and never will; Suvari plays the burned out addict who's reached the nasty-scuzzy level where even another addict would rather jerk off than "face" her; and Roberts plays a Retro-flamo Elvis-Liberace character we should see more often for comic relief. It's quite a team. In a less "stylish", cruder way, "Spun" reminds me of "Pulp Fiction". Some of the techniques failed, or are unnecessary (the animation scenes), some are interesting but overused (fast editing, film speed changes, harsh color, sound effects), but the camera angles are consistently unique, as are the close ups of everyday things that keep the mood at a very basic, pointless, daily grind level. The scoring is appropriately kitschy, ironic, and moody. The dialog is better than many would give it credit for (but then, I think "Gummo" is underrated, too, so there's where I stand on THAT!). "Spun" is NOT a story. It is a mood. Does it have a moral tone? Sort of, yes: drugs don't work in your favor. Are we supposed to like or dislike these characters? Nah. They are who they are, and we ain't gonna change 'em. Are they the people you want as neighbors? Hell, no. Do we feel better about OUR lives after seeing theirs? Hell yes.

Oh zow! Quick cuts! Wide angle lenses! Animation! This must be a work of genius.

The trouble with the success of movies like Snatch, Lock Stock, Requiem For A Dream, and Pulp Fiction is that it's assumed that quick cuts and snappy camera angles make a good movie. Spun is such a contrived Requiem-imitator that it is nearly unpleasant to watch. Close-ups of pupils dilating when taking a hit? Colorful characters trying not to admit they have a problem? A final montage of the characters in static positions while a somber song plays? This movie has been made! No amount of epileptic editing and over-exposure can change that. It's story has nothing. It tries to take a new slant on the drug tradedy by adding humor, but it only produces sad imitation after sad imitation of Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Watch the excellent films this movie is derived from, save your self an hour and a half of an excellent cast helping a mediocre music video director try to be like Darren Aronofsky.

The opening sequence with the cover of "number of the beast" done by Billy Corgan was so beautiful that I was hooked from the get-go.

A lot of people seem to think that the main characters were just detestable spun out pieces of scum, and I couldn't disagree more. All I see is some very lost young people.

The cinematography is gorgeous in its spot on accurate depiction of pure filth and squalor, and it works to immediately transport the viewer into these peoples lifestyles.

Enter Brittany Murphy into the scene, looking gorgeous, full of love and light as always, and naturally spun out somehow with those big doe eyes and I was instantly in love.

Another complaint I hear is that this movie doesn't go anywhere, but I don't think that's true at all. This is human tragedy at its realest, it's not like requiem or Trainspotting, the director made it totally his own in the best way possible.

I gave it a 10/10.

If you didn't like it, it's not because it wasn't great, it's because you couldn't handle it, and that's fine, but please don't trash it. I do think it's a masterpiece, and one of my all time favorites.

Shoutout to the soundtrack which will hopefully be released someday, it was perfect for the film, and beautiful on its own.

Because the only reason you would want to watch this is if you have done speed or know people that have. Otherwise you will probably hate this movie.

The reason for this is the fact that this movie is a perfect representation of life on speed. It moves in circles, at a quick pace, the people don't know or care about each other, and the only motivation for anything happening is speed. Such is life on speed.

For this, the movie accomplishes its goal: To show life on speed. You'll either get or hate this one, and for the health of the nation, I hope most will hate it.

This movie only had 2 things going for it:

1. Mickey Rourke. He is always great in whatever role he plays, of course he always plays the sleaziest characters, but he's still great.

2. Brittany Murphy. She looks like she's on crank without the crank make-up effects, so she fits right in.

Everything else about it stunk! Even Jason Scwartzman, who is great in all of the other movies he's been in, was bad in this one. The story was predictable and didn't really have a point, the sub stories didn't go anywhere. It wasn't even pointless in an "artsy" way, it was just bad. The whole thing looks like a 101 min. music video, and the cameo by Billy Corgan made it that much worse. It's Requiem for a Dream meets Fear and Loathing... with a little bit of Gummo.

A totally unoriginal film.