Taglines: Algunos viven a otro ritmo… (Some live at a different pace…)
Ross (Jason Schwartzman) is a customer of Spider Mike (John Leguizamo), a methamphetamine dealer. Spider Mike and his girlfriend Cookie (Mena Suvari) are constantly arguing, and Ross strikes up a friendship with Nikki (Brittany Murphy), a fellow addict. Nikki takes Ross to meet her boyfriend, “The Cook” (Mickey Rourke), who supplies Spider Mike with drugs from a meth lab he has set up in a motel room. The Cook gives a small amount of meth to Ross in exchange for bringing Nikki home, and says that he will get in touch with Ross if he needs a driver.
Back at his apartment, Ross gets messages from his mother and his former girlfriend, Amy, wishing him a happy birthday. Ross, assuming that Amy still loves him, sporadically calls her and leaves messages on her answering machine. He then goes to the local strip club while high, leading to an intense pornographic hallucination.
He takes April (Chloe Hunter), one of the dancers he has a relationship with, home and has sex with her in a variety of positions, the last of which leaves her tied to the bed naked. As they finish, the Cook calls with an emergency regarding Nikki’s dog, Taco, which needs to be taken to the veterinarian. April tells him to untie her but Ross, still high, duct-tapes April’s eyes and mouth shut to keep her quiet and leaves her handcuffed to the bed, playing music to cover her gagged screams.
Elsewhere, two policemen (Peter Stormare and Alexis Arquette) working with a TV crew raid the trailer where Frisbee (Patrick Fugit), another one of Spider Mike’s customers, lives, falsely believing that a meth lab is located there. They take Frisbee and his overweight mother into custody, where they threaten him into cooperation in a drug bust.
Spun is a 2002 American black comedy crime drama film directed by Jonas Åkerlund from an original screenplay by William De Los Santos and Creighton Vero, based on 3 days of De Los Santos’ life in the Eugene, Oregon drug subculture and stars Jason Schwartzman, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Patrick Fugit, Peter Stormare, Alexis Arquette, Deborah Harry, Eric Roberts, Chloe Hunter, Nicholas Gonzalez, Brittany Murphy and Mickey Rourke.
It is Åkerlund’s debut as a feature film director, having already become known for his work in music videos. The film was shot in 22 days, and centers on various people involved in a methamphetamine drug ring. The film blends elements of dark comedy and drama in its storytelling. Its title is a reference to the slang term for the way users feel after going multiple days without sleep while on a methamphetamine binge. The characters take a combined total of 23 “hits” during the course of the movie.
Spun (2003)
Directed by: Jonas Åkerlund
Starring: Jason Schwartzman, John Leguizamo, Mena Suvari, Patrick Fugit, Peter Stormare, Alexis Arquette, Deborah Harry, Eric Roberts, Chloe Hunter, Nicholas Gonzalez, Brittany Murphy, Mickey Rourke
Screenplay by: William De Los Santos, Creighton Vero
Production Design by: Richard Lassalle
Cinematography by: Eric Broms
Film Editing by: Jonas Åkerlund
Costume Design by: B. Åkerlund
Set Decoration by: Lisa Tong
Art Direction by: Jason Hamilton
Music by: Billy Corgan
MPAA Rating: R for pervasive drug content, strong sexuality, language and some violence.
Distributed by: Newmarket Films
Release Date: March 14, 2003
Visits: 77
