Matt Dillon & Kelly Lynch
This movie is one of my favorites and I can't explain why that is. No one else who watches it with me or has ever seen it can understand it either.
Drustore Cowboy is a drug themed movie set in early seventies. It follows a group of four drug addicts (led by Bob played by Matt Dillon and his wife Diane played by Kelly Lynch) as they hap-hazardly rob pharmacies, drugstores and hospitals throughout the west coast to support their habits and pay their bills. Along the way an overly focused cop is constantly trying to catch them in the act but never quite succeeds.
As the movie progresses bad shit happens, as is to be expected in a realm of drugs, needles and everything in between. One of the foursome doesn't make it through the journey and the second half of the movie is based on them trying to get out of a cop-infested motel with the body - which is actually some of the funniest moments in the entire movie!
There is so much about this movie that truly captures the reality of the drug world. Though to most it will seem outlandish and sometimes comical, take it from a recovered and always recovering drug addict - it is all based in the true feeling and tone of a junkie's day to day world. The darkness and griminess of their lives are both so alien to an outsider watching yet so normal to the one living it.
The movie is based on the book of the same name written by James Fogle which is loosely based on his years of crime and drug use. The most interesting aspect to the movie is how it ends. As is customary here - I will not ruin it for you. But, although Fogle's book is based on his own life, Bob's journey ends differently that James Fogle's did. Some in my situation may find that discouraging or disappointing. I do not. I like to believe James wrote Bob doing the things he himself did not have the strength or courage to do. I think it was his expression of unhappiness and misery within the life he chose for himself.
Aside from the subject matter and underlying theme: this movie is a must-see for any Matt Dillon fan who loved The Outsiders or Rumble Fish as a kid.
