Wow! Such a good movie.

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

If it was not for this detail the movie would have been nothing special. But this changes everything - Bob finally gets it that you can fool the system but not some forces beyond and behind it. It is in fact a search for limits in this life and this world that the whole drug thing is about. And Bob understands that but will he survive? That is the question.

Based on a true story of the experiences of James Fogle (Which I wasn't aware of at first) Bob (Matt Dillon) is a drug addict, who robs drug stores to get his fix. He brings along his partners in crime, Diane (Kelly Lynch) James Le Gros (Rick) and Heather Graham (Nadine) This is not a pleasant film to witness. It's rough around the edges, grueling to get through, but oh, so worth it! I consider this movie to be a near masterpiece for many reasons. The sheer skill of Gus Van Sant, says it all. He may have been responsible for the crappy Psycho remake, but when the man is motivated, he's hard to beat. The gritty nature of this film is absolutely perfect, and I thought the drug abuse was extremely realistic. I felt the desperation of Bob, as well as the undeniable shame that stemmed from robbing drug stores to maintain his habit. It also helps that despite Bob's selfish mannerisms, he manages to remain a sympathetic figure. He won't be sympathetic to everyone, but he was to me. All the credit goes to Matt Dillon for his sensational performance. Kelly Lynch is pretty good herself. She doesn't have as big a role to tackle, but her chemistry with Dillon was excellent, and was vital to the film's success. James Le Gros is good, whilst Heather Graham is splendid in one of her early roles as the clueless tag-along. Drugstore Cowboy also has touches of dark humor. It has a very funny stakeout scene that cracked me up. The most powerful part of the movie for me is when Bob goes straight for a little while. It's a really eye- opening experience, and reminded me how awful addiction can truly be. The movie ends on an ambiguous note. It makes you interpret the situation. I felt it was very smart and expertly done. Final Thoughts: I really don't think my words can do this movie justice. I found myself struggling at times to write a review for this movie. Excellent films often do that for me. Just go see it. It's a near classic film that is a must-see. Matt Dillon has rarely been better9.6/10

Gus Van Sant's films all seem to be set at a different level of indie quality. That indie level usually seems to depend on the number of big name stars appear in the film. His films like Elephant or Paranoid Park star non-actors in leading roles, and they're some of the most experimental of his films. But the experimentation goes away slightly when stars like Matt Dillon or Kelly Lynch are introduced like in Van Sant's 1989 film Drugstore Cowboy. Drugstore Cowboy is about a group of junkies who spend their time robbing pharmacies so they can use the myriad of drugs available to get all sorts of new and crazy highs. But after a while the crew has to take their show on the road, and things quickly get complicated in this bleak real world drama that may or may not accurately capture the essence of drug addiction and the lengths some go to fuel said addiction.I said the experimental reaches Gus Van Sant goes to are quelled slightly for this film, and they are, but there is still some interesting and trippy things going on. Van Sant employs a surreal quality to his whole film, capturing the character's highs as dream like mind trips with all sorts of hidden meanings that don't make a ton of sense. But then again, they don't entirely need to. The whole film has a somber and dream like quality to it that drives the whole story and is fuel for the characters motivations, what little motivation these characters have. It's a very strange and loose story about some very strange and loose people.The problem with swathing this film with such a bleak and dreamy tone is that it makes Drugstore Cowboy kind of dull. It starts out with a lot of promise and plenty of potential. The film opens by interesting Matt Dillon's character, Bob, as he narrates an introduction to what he does and who he does it with. We then see one of their robberies take place in a tense and quiet moment. From there the plot starts to sink in as the characters lives grow more and more harrowing and the situations they find themselves in become increasingly grave. But at a certain point the film sort of plateaus and stops being interesting and you stop caring so much about the characters. I was never painfully bored with this film and I watched with a keen and interested eye all the way through, but I was by no means enthralled and the story didn't grip me like it should have.Drugstore Cowboy is a very interesting film and it does plenty of things right. Unfortunately it's just a little boring, and the events that play out aren't terribly original, and I felt like I was just watching another reformed junkie film with a little bit of a Gus Van Sant twist. This is still a pretty decent film, but don't expect too terribly much from it.

Incredible movie takes place in 1971 in Oregon. Bob (Matt Dillon), his girlfriend Dianne (Kelly Lynch) and Rick (James Le Gros) and HIS girlfriend Nadine (Heather Graham) are all drug addicts. They live together and support their habit by robbing drugstore pharmacies. Their lives slowly become darker and more violent...but can they break away from the drugs? Also police officer Gentry (James Remar) is hot on their trail.This was a breakthrough in 1989. It put director Gus van Sant on the map and (briefly) revived Matt Dillon's career. It was also a surprise hit for such a low-budget film. It might sound like a boring and depressing film but it isn't. There's plenty of humor and the film actually has you rooting for the main characters even though they ARE robbers and addicts. The 1971 era is there but you're not hit over the head with it. The clothes, fashions and the black and white TV with rabbit ears tell you everything you need to know. The acting is excellent across the board. No one is bad but Dillon and Lynch are just simply superb in their roles. Also the direction by van Sant was incredible--it REALLY bought to life more than a few scenes. I was never bored and completely fascinated. WELL worth catching. I give this a 10.