Way, way, way over rated

Rating: 3/10 (29 August 2004)

SPOILERS
I was told this movie is really depressing, but in order for that to be true I would've had to watch a movie with engaging characters. Guess what? I couldn't empathize with any of these losers, because they were flat, one-dimensional and pathetic. Most stories of drug addiction give us some glimpse of a character's potential for success--their charm, their attractiveness, their intelligence, a successful career or academic promise--and then show it all going down the drain. Or maybe we'll see why they turned to drugs, what their problems were, what they need to escape. Here we get none of that. In this movie they start as loser/addicts and end as loser/addicts. Everyone gets what he and she deserves. Some initially neat camera and editing work that gets old very quickly--would've been cool in a music video, but that's about it. Why does Hubert Selby Jr. have to end all his movies with women whoring themselves in especially degrading ways (cf. Last Exit to Brooklyn)? 3/10