I'm pretty happy to admit that I probably didn't get the most out of Spun. Reading through reviews and IMDb message boards I've found people praising it over and over again for being the most realistic presentation of meth-addicts' life-style ever put on film. That's quite possibly the case; never having taken meth I have no idea. Indeed, it seems that every glaring review comes from someone who has a history with the drug, so I assume the portrayal is accurate. As it is, I can only review Spun based on what I got out of it - which is an interesting film, but definitely not a masterpiece.
By itself, Spun has its merits. It's an atmospheric piece, with excellent cinematography and editing; Although it relies too heavily on editing tricks, and almost everything it does was done before in similar ways in more memorable drug-films like Requiem for a Dream, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas and Dazed & Confused. It managed to bring in an impressive collection of actors, both for the leads and for cameos - Jason Schwartzman, Patrick Fugit, Mena Suvari, John Leguizamo and Peter Stormare in one film are a indie-loving hipster's wet dream - and they all do an excellent job, but their characters aren't very interesting. The film manages to convey the idea that methheads are real people with real emotions, but it hammers that idea into the viewer's head over and over again without saying much else.
To explain - what Spun lacks, for me, isn't plot per se. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas or Trainspotting didn't have much of a plot either. But Spun has no depth or heart either. It puts the viewer into the meth experience, it shocks and unnerves - as it should - but it's not enough to make us care. The regular explanation that it's a film for methheads that only methheads will enjoy may have truth to it, but if so its value as a film is questionable. If it's meant to convey an anti-drug message, it's preaching to the choir - because only former meth addicts will know how realistic and thus how tragic it is, while to the rest of us it looks like a zany, trashy, sexy comedy that enjoys the drugs almost as often as it derides them.
A six-star rating usually relates to a mediocre or forgettable movie - Spun is anything but. It's also not a bad movie. It's interesting and unusual, but it misses its mark for most of the audience, and it's not original or interesting enough to be worth watching simply as a visual piece. It's funny enough and has enough good acting - Mickey Rourke is of particular note, in the role that may have been the harbinger of his current comeback - but in the end it'll mostly leave you confused.
By itself, Spun has its merits. It's an atmospheric piece, with excellent cinematography and editing; Although it relies too heavily on editing tricks, and almost everything it does was done before in similar ways in more memorable drug-films like Requiem for a Dream, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas and Dazed & Confused. It managed to bring in an impressive collection of actors, both for the leads and for cameos - Jason Schwartzman, Patrick Fugit, Mena Suvari, John Leguizamo and Peter Stormare in one film are a indie-loving hipster's wet dream - and they all do an excellent job, but their characters aren't very interesting. The film manages to convey the idea that methheads are real people with real emotions, but it hammers that idea into the viewer's head over and over again without saying much else.
To explain - what Spun lacks, for me, isn't plot per se. Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas or Trainspotting didn't have much of a plot either. But Spun has no depth or heart either. It puts the viewer into the meth experience, it shocks and unnerves - as it should - but it's not enough to make us care. The regular explanation that it's a film for methheads that only methheads will enjoy may have truth to it, but if so its value as a film is questionable. If it's meant to convey an anti-drug message, it's preaching to the choir - because only former meth addicts will know how realistic and thus how tragic it is, while to the rest of us it looks like a zany, trashy, sexy comedy that enjoys the drugs almost as often as it derides them.
A six-star rating usually relates to a mediocre or forgettable movie - Spun is anything but. It's also not a bad movie. It's interesting and unusual, but it misses its mark for most of the audience, and it's not original or interesting enough to be worth watching simply as a visual piece. It's funny enough and has enough good acting - Mickey Rourke is of particular note, in the role that may have been the harbinger of his current comeback - but in the end it'll mostly leave you confused.