Spun (Unrated Version)

Spun (Unrated Version)

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Movie Reviews of Spun (Unrated Version)

Movie Review: Bipolar syndrome...
Summary: 5 Stars

The most common complaint about this movie seems to be the obvious influence of "Requiem for a Dream" (2000), and many reviewrers have compared the two unfavourably. I'm not sure such a comparison is justified. While both movies recount the stories of people who do drugs, they take completely different approaches. "Requiem..." is a strongly anti-drug movie. It is meant to be a realistic take on the evils of drug abuse and the slide into obsession and addiction. It rarely shows the addicts actually enjoying the drugs they are on, and as suchfails to justify why they use so heavily. "Spun", on the other hand, makes no judgements. Drugs are neither good nor bad, they simply are. Drugs exist, people use them, this is what happens. With this approach it ends up being a far more entertaining movie.

The humour is dark and the characters are almost parodies of the kind of charicatures we've come to expect from other drug movies , except with their own distinctive twists. John Leguizamo, for example, the local drug dealer, turns out to be completely hapless at tasks such as keeping track of the drugs he intends to sell.
The camera work stands out as exceptional, as the constant jump cuts and intelligent use of split-screen and fantasy sequences both recreate the experience of staying awake for 4 days while high on crystal meth, as well as giving some indication of why the users keep on using. This helps create empathy between the audience and viewer, helping us to identify with the characters. This identification though is quickly spat back at us, as the characters repeatedly make incredibly random and illogical choices, betraying the trust we've put in them and helping to make the movie even more engrossing. For example, when Ross the college drop-out and anti-hero of the piece gets a phone call and has to rush out at the end of a monster drug-fuelled sex session, he leaves the girl handcuffed to the bed. For four days. And this comes after we've begun to identify with him as being the "normal" character in the movie.
The movie is full of unexpected twists and turns like that. The "Cops" style reality T.V. show, the green dog (which I would say is more a satire of the "dog culture" in this country than an release for Akerlund's personal anti-dog creed) and of course Mena Suvari, the hollywood sex symbol struggling to pass a bowel motion. This is clearly not "an example of the depths Hollywood has sunk to". I also doubt the "local conglomerate video store" will touch it, in fact the copy I saw was pirated from DVD by an independant store owner who rented it for free because he thought it was essential more people saw it. To call this movie "mysogenistic" is similarily misguided - the only true mysogenist in the movie ends up getting his just desserts not once but twice .
Three particular highlights stand out for me. The first are the random sections of psychadelic animation that randomly crop up throughout the movie. Watch carefully for the one involving Ross, the stripper and three very dirty little pigs.
The second highlight is the flamboyant old L.A. queer pimp who is Mickey Rourke's financial backer. He only appears for two scenes and is never explained, but he almost steals the entire movie.
The final highlight is the ongoing relationship between Ross and his "girlfriend". Part "Swingers" Jon Favreau and part "Very Bad Things" Jon Favreau, this alone is worth renting the movie for.
If more movies were this intelligent, this well written and this well shot the entertainment industry would be in much better shape. I can't wait to see what Akerlund comes up with next...

Summary of Spun (Unrated Version)