16. Drugstore Cowboy
International Video Entertainment
The Drugs: A cocktail of stolen prescription drugs Star Matt Dillon and director Gus Van Sant both made a name for themselves with 1989's Drugstore Cowboy, a seedy yet at times affectionate and humorous look back at drug addicts in the early 1970s, who are forced to rob pharmacies and hospitals in order to feed their insatiable habits. What makes Drugstore Cowboy so successful is Van Sant's refusal to judge his characters - living on the fringe of society, it would be easy for a film to roundly condemn then as wasters and criminals, but the excellent script - witty and sharp throughout - renders them rounded and human, their obvious vices just one aspect of their personalities. Whereas some anti-drug movies tend to come across as patronising, as if delivering a sermon from a high horse, Drugstore Cowboy doesn't try to pretend that addiction is a black and white affair, and is all the more effective and compelling for it.