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Review

A movie on speed about kids on speed, Spun starts out in high gear and keeps on truckin'. Following four days in the life of Ross (Schwartzman), who has flittered away a relationship with his beautiful girlfriend by getting hooked on methamphetamines, the film is both cautionary and comically caustic in its approach. Akerlund's carnival ride is filled to the brim with quirky characters including strippers, drug-addicted cops, lesbian neighbors (played by Deborah Harry, no less) and various sleazy hangers-on. But it centers around Ross and the people he meets when he heads to his dealer's house to score more speed.

Performances are top-notch across the board, specifically from Schwartzman, who has done a whole lot of nothing since his bang-up debut in Rushmore. Suvari turns her American Beauty image on its ear as the high-on-life drug dealer girlfriend and Rourke roars as a porn-lovin' meth cooker. But the best work comes from Leguizamo in a jittery and exposed turn as Spider Mike, a dealer who uses way too much of his product and not enough of his clothing.

Akerlund has made a scarringly sexy, revved-up look at drug users that doesn't dig too deep below the surface but also does little to glamorize its characters' lives. Bobby keeps one of his sexual hook-ups tied up for three days while he goes looking for drugs and one poor kid gets shot in the you-know-where for his unwise choices. And yet, the film is still kind of a fun roller coaster ride, getting under your skin with its screwball feel, its speed-induced dream sequences and its low-budget subversiveness. Yes, much of this has been done before (see the better Trainspotting), but that doesn't keep this story from being a thrilling enterprise.

 -- Mekado Murphy