“Spun” is the debut film by Jonas Akerlund, the man behind the controversial Prodigy music video “Smack My Bitch Up.” With its edgy, cut-driven storyline, “Spun” calls out to those that appreciated films such as “Trainspotting” and “Requiem for a Dream.”
While the film looks at a group of drug addicts in a three-day tour of their crazy lives, it is mainly centered on Ross (Jason Schwartzman), an obsessive ex-boyfriend who becomes the local crystal meth cook’s personal driver in exchange for free drugs. During this three-day excursion, two TV cops on speed (Peter Stormare and Alexis Arquette), who star in the popular reality show called BUST, track down the speed chain to its source.
The action begins at Spider Mike’s (John Leguizamo) run-down house, when Ross comes looking for speed and finds that Spider has lost all the goods, which Spider knows will not please The Cook (Mickey Rourke), the man behind all the local speed.
Cookie (Mena Suvari), Spider’s unsanitary girlfriend, and the pimple-faced Frisbee (Patrick Fugit) help Spider track down the speed while Nikki (Brittany Murphy) takes Ross for a ride to see her boyfriend, The Cook.
“Spun” uses the best visual style toward the effects of drugs I have seen in a while. From the head twitching perfection that Schwartzman says he perfected by watching a lot of nature videos, to the constant stream of quick edits, Akerlund gives an amazing look into the hectic, downward spiral lives of these insomniac speed freaks. “Spun” also set a new Guinness World Book record for the most edits in a film thanks to Akerlund’s visual style toward the characters’ reactions to the drugs.
From Schwartzman’s intense portrayal of the lonely addict seeking out his ex-girlfriend’s compassion, to Leguizamo’s hilarious, upbeat Spider Mike, and finally to Mickey Rourke, whose long-awaited film revival couldn’t have been better than in this ass-kicking role, “Spun” has the characters needed to keep you interested in a story about drugs and the strange things that happen to the addicts who depend on them.
3.5 / 5 Stars
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, Brittany Murphy, Mickey Rourke, John Leguizamo, Patrick Fugit, Mena Suvari
Director: Josh Akerlund
