Criterion Challenge week eight: Drugstore Cowboy (1989)
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Drugstore Cowboy (1989) is a thought-provoking film that explores the dangers of addiction while offering a humanizing portrayal of those who struggle with it.
The Criterion Challenge is a yearly movie challenge held by movie fans and Letterboxd users, where you watch 52 films housed by the Criterion Collection to fulfill 52 different weekly categories, all in one calendar year. I am participating this year, and last week, I watched my first silent film, Master of the House (1925), for week seven: the 1920s.
The Criterion Collection is a film-producing and distribution company founded over 40 years ago. The company’s original goals were to publish and distribute CDs, videocassettes, and videodiscs. Since many people have turned to streaming services now, the collection has its own: the Criterion Channel. They still, however, produce many films in physical collections, and movie fans can purchase individual DVDs, disc box sets, and more on their website.
For week eight, the challenge is to watch a film that will be added to the physical collection in 2025. From about 20 movies, I chose Drugstore Cowboy (1989), directed by Gus Van Sant.
Drugstore Cowboy (1989) is about four drug addicts, but primarily a man named Bob, played by Matt Dillon. Bob and his crew routinely rob drugstores and pharmacies for any narcotics they can find, and towards the beginning of the film, their home is raided and destroyed by the police. The group relocates but is still being surveilled heavily, as Bob is a repeat offender and has been incarcerated multiple times before. The crew then decides to set out on the road, and Bob cooks up elaborate and impressive plans to make sure they can stay high without being caught with any drugs in their possession.
Things go disastrously wrong when Bob decides he needs to return home and enter a rehabilitation program, leaving behind his drug-induced fantastical life. When his wife Dianne, played by Kelly Lynch, disagrees and insists that she will not join him in getting sober, Bob is forced to leave her behind. Bob’s narration, outlook on life, and Dillon’s performance more broadly make the film worth watching.
Bob and Dianne are not grounded characters, living off of fading narcotic highs and superstitions. They treat the other members of their chosen family and each other very horribly. It is unclear to the viewer whether Bob and Dianne really love each other or if they just love the life they lead together. Their superstitions are nonsensical, like “no talking about dogs” or “don’t leave a hat on a bed.” They wrap themselves in delusion, trying to outrun curses and misfortune. While Bob convinces himself that bad things happen because of these curses, it is clear to the viewer that these things would have happened no matter what and that these are the logical consequences of their actions.
From the title, I assumed this movie would have been more of an action film than it was. It is more of a gloomy drama with a distinct coloring that matches its vibe. The soundtrack is disorienting and gives the movie a surreal fantasy feel. There is an underlayer of commentary that is apparently typical of Van Sant’s work, being that addicts are human beings and should be treated as such. Overall, the film is as interesting as it is entertaining, and I give it four out of five stars!