Review of Drugstore Cowboy (1989) by Chris H — 21 Sep 2009

Of the Gus Van Sant films that I have watched, Drugstore Cowboy is easily the most straight forward. The dialogue, acting, direction, and story for the most part lack what Van Sant can bring to the party.

OK, the occasional object floats through the screen during arm shots, but from what I?m used to from Van Sant, a story about petty thief drug addicts should involve more originality. Yeah, this one of his first films, but sometimes I think critics like to make a case why a film should be rated higher as opposed to just critiquing what?s on display.

Drugstore Cowboy is still a fine little film, just nothing out of the ordinary, in my opinion. Matt Dillon is great as the crew leader, but holy cow does Kelly Lynch ever mail in her performance. How can a character that goes in and out of drug stupors just have one emotion akin to ?Where?s my paycheck?".