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Drugstore Cowboy
1989 102 min United States of America R 16+
★7.7
Drama, Crime
Director: Gus Van Sant
Trailers
Description
Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, who skillfully steal from drugstores and hospital medicine cabinets in order to appease their insatiable need for drugs. But neither fun nor luck last forever.
Budget:
$2.5M
US Gross:
$4.73M
Worldwide:
$4.7M
Starring
Matt Dillon
Actor
Kelly Lynch
Actor
James Le Gros
Actor
Awards
Berlin International Film Festival 1990
— C.I.C.A.E. Prize (Forum)
Key opinion
Drugstore Cowboy is widely recognized as a seminal indie film that helped define Gus Van Sant's atmospheric, contemplative style. While many viewers praise its grounded performances and refusal to moralize the subject of addiction, others find the narrative pacing frustrating and the character arcs unconvincing.
| Acting | Matt Dillon delivers a compelling, standout performance as the principled yet superstitious protagonist, Bob. | |
| Cinematography | The film is visually distinct, utilizing a unique color palette and stylistic cinematography that helped pioneer the 1990s American independent aesthetic. | |
| Theme | The film is praised for avoiding typical tropes of drug-culture films by eschewing overt moralizing and bleak hopelessness in favor of a fatalistic, observation-based narrative. | |
| Screenplay | Opinions on the screenplay are divided: some appreciate its unconventional, observational nature, while others find the dialogue absurd and the lack of traditional character progression disappointing. | |
| Pacing | The slow, contemplative pacing serves as a meditative quality for some, but others find it exhausting and prone to dragging. |