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Films Depicting Substance Use
Prepared December 2002
28 Days
|
A big-city newspaper columnist is forced to enter a drug and alcohol rehab center after stealing a limousine and crashing it into a house. Good clips to demonstrate physical features of dependency and effects of substance use on family members. Cast: Sandra Bullock. |
Affliction
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A troubled small town cop investigates a suspicious hunting death, in the process events provoke emotional turmoil and disintegrate. He is haunted by memories of a childhood terrorized by his drunken, abusive father. Accurate portrayal of the association of alcohol use and increased domestic violence and physical abuse. Cast: Nick Nolte, Sissy Spacek, James Coburn. |
Barfly
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Based on the book by the heavy-drinking writer Charles Bukowski. About a man who spends his life in seedy L.A. bars and falls in love with an alcohol dependent women; finds some success as an author, only to drink it away. Cast: Mickey Rourke, Faye Dunaway. |
Basketball Diaries
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A young man from a tough neighborhood, who's a member of an unbeatable high school basketball team and has a potential professional career, struggles with heroin and other drug use. Based on autobiographical book by Jim Carroll. Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio. |
Better Living Through Circuitry
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Documentary. Looks at club drugs, the rave scene and use of ecstasy Time: 85 minutes Distributor: Cleopatra |
Blow
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Traces the explosion of cocaine use and the violent business that supports it. Based ion true story of boy growing up in working class circumstances who vows to make it. Marijuana dealing grows into a major link in the 1970s exploding cocaine market. Depicts both the big business aspect of cocaine trafficking and cocaine's impact on the lives of those who use it. Cast: Johnny Depp. |
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
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Depicts the impact of alcohol dependence on the family. Tennessee Williams play. Also TV versions. Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman |
Christiane F
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A teenager gets involved in the Berlin drug scene of the 1970s. Good depictions of heroin, sedative and LSD use. (German) Cast: Natja Brunckhorst, Thomas Haustein, performance by David
Bowie. |
Clean and Sober
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A hotshot real-estate agent deals with his cocaine dependence. Initially enters treatment to escape from problems, only to find he may be in the right place. Cast: Michal Keaton, Morgan Freman. |
Cocaine Fiends
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Similar to "Reefer Madness." This is a 1930s "exploitation movie" dealing with topics that were taboo the time. Described as 'inept' at virtually level, it nonetheless helps to show the way substance abuse has been perceived/portrayed over time. Original title, "The Pace that Kills." Reissued in 1973 as "Cocaine Fiends." Time: 66 minutes Distributor: Hollywood's
Attic (video) |
The Corner
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A 6-part HBO series. Depicts the effects of heroin and cocaine on an inner-city community. Cast: TK Carter, Denise 'Fran' Boyd. |
The Country Girl
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Kelly portrays the wife of an actor who is alcohol dependent. Cast: Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly. |
Days of Wine and Roses
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Classic film. Boy (with drinking problem) meets girl (with addiction to chocolate). They fall in love, get married and have a beautiful baby girl. But the perfect family is anything but. He introduced his wife to the "pleasures" of drinking and soon both are alcohol dependent. An absorbing, frightening study of the insidiousness of addiction. Famous scene in the greenhouse, as they frantically look for the hidden stash. Cast: Jack Lemmon, Lee Remick. |
Drugstore Cowboy
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A stark portrait of a group of young friends trying to survive while in Portland Oregon's heroin scene, robbing drug stores to finance habit. Cameo performance by William Burroughs. Cast: Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch. |
Drunks
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Portrayal of 12-step programs. The vehicle of an AA meeting is used to tell individual stories . Cast: Richard Lewis, Faye Dunaway, Dianne Weist, Calistsa Flackhart,
Amanda Plummer. |
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
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Hunter S. Thompson, the oddball journalist (Depp) and his attorney travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychedelic escapades. Accurate depiction of the acute effects of LSD and cocaine. Cast: Johnny Depp, Benicio del Toro. |
Gia
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Based on the life of Gia Carangi, a 1970s supermodel who becomes involved with the Studio 54 scene. Follows her life from age 17 to age 26 when she died of AIDs. Good portrayal of cocaine and other drug use. TV movie. Cast: Angelina Jolie. |
Gridlock'd
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Following a friend's overdose, two guys decide to kick their drug habits and attempt to enroll in a government detox program. They confront seemingly endless red tape, being shuffled from one office to another while being chased by both drug dealers and the police. Cast: Tupac Shakur, Tim Roth. |
Hoosiers
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Based on the true story of a small-town Indiana team that made the state finals in 1954, this movie chronicles the attempts of a coach with a spotty past, and the town's basketball-loving drunk to lead their high school team to victory. Cast: Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper. |
Human Traffic
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Five best friends deal with their relationships and their personal demons during a weekend. Starting Friday afternoon, with preparations for clubbing, we follow the five from Ecstasy-induced fun through a booze-laden comedown early Saturday morning followed by the weekend's aftermath. The Cardiff club scene in the 90's. Cast: John Stimm, Lorraine Pilkington. |
Jo Jo Dancer
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Autobiographical. Stand-up comedian, when unconscious in hospital suffering from severe burns, revisits his life -- from growing up in a brothel as a child and struggling to beat the long odds to become a top rated comedian. However, his success brings new problems as he develops a tragic pattern of substance abuse that begins to screw up his life. Cast: Richard Pryor Distributor: Miramax |
Kids
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A disturbing controversial portrayal of teenage life in New York City. Film exposes the grim reality of a group of skate-boarders in the space of 24 hours. Use of marijuana, inhalants, alcohol, and other substances, unprotected predatory sex and AIDS. Cast: Leo Fitzpatrick,Chloë Sevigny. |
Leaving Las Vegas
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An alcohol dependent man (Nicolas Cage) goes to Las Vegas to drink himself to death; he forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with a prostitute); great demonstration of the shakes. Cast: Nicholas Cage, Elisabeth Shue. |
The Lost Weekend
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A classic. Set in the 1940s, tale of an alcohol dependent man, who, after ten days of being on the wagon, goes on a four day bender. Depicts the DTs, and the on-going struggle of dependence. Cast: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman. |
The Man With the Golden Arm
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Opiate dependent musician and card dealer who struggles with drug use; the Hollywood portrayal of going "cold turkey." Cast: Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak. |
My Name is Bill W.
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Portrays the origins of Alcoholics Anonymous. Tells the story of Bill Wilson and his long struggle with alcohol. TV mini-series. Cast: James Woods, James Garner. |
The Panic in Needle Park
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Stark portrayal of life among a group of heroin addicts who hang out in "Needle Park" in New York City. A homeless girl who finds in her relationship with a young addict. She becomes addicted too, and life goes downhill for them both as their addiction deepens, eventually leading to a series of betrayals. Graphic shots of heroin use. Cast: Al Pacino. |
Permanent Midnight
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Based on the true story of the creator of the 1980s TV show ³Alf.² Story of a Hollywood screenwriter whose life is affected by heroin and cocaine dependence. Excellent portrayals of drug use and issues of early recovery. Cast: Ben Stiller. |
Postcards from the Edge
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Substance-addicted Hollywood actress is on the skids. After a spell at a detox centre her film company insists as a condition of continuing to employ her that she live with her mother, herself once a star and now a champion drinker. Clearly this is a set-up and bad news, but the daughter gains some insights into the family dynamics. Cast: Meryl Streep, Shirley McLain, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman,
and more. Book and Screenplay by Carrie Fisher. |
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'the Goat' Manigault
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The career of a promising basketball player is cut short by heroin dependence. After returning from prison, he cleans up his act and works with young kids from Harlem. Cast: Don Cheadle, James Earl Jones. |
Reefer Madness
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A propaganda movie on the dangers of marijuana. A high school principal makes a presentation to a PTA, relating stories of students enticed to use marijuana, and the problems this creates. For one young student this results in a life-time commitment to a mental hospital. Excellent vehicle to discuss the political nature of the societal response to drug use. Now being categorized in video catalogs as a "comedy." Earlier titled "Tell Your Children." Distributor: Good Times Home Video |
Requiem for a Dream
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Three young adults using heroin and cocaine and the mother of one of them who develops a problem with prescription stimulants. All four lives spiral out of control. Cast: Ellen Burstyn. |
Rush
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Two small town Texas cops go undercover to catch a major drug dealer, and get caught up in the drug culture. Described as somewhat dreary but an overall accurate portrayal of the impact of narcotic dependency. Cast: Jason Patric, Jennifer Jason Leigh. |
Scarface
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An examination of the cocaine cartels of the 1970s. Remake of the 1932 film, which follows the rise of Tony Montana, a Cuban emigre who, with his friend Manny Ray, builds a strong criminal empire in early 1980's Miami. Extremely violent. Cast: Al Pacino. |
Sid and Nancy
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Biographical story of Sid Vicious, bassist with British punk group the Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. When the Sex Pistols break up after their fateful US tour, Vicious attempts a solo career while in the grip of heroin addiction. One morning, Nancy is found stabbed to death and Sid is arrested for her murder. Cast: Gary Oldman. |
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
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Sherlock Holmes attempts to get rid of his cocaine addiction by getting treatment from Sigmund Freud. Wonderful potential for clips including cocaine intoxication and psychosis, and portrayal of classic psychoanalytic therapy. Students love this movie making it a great choice for movie club. Cast: Alan Alda. |
Traffic
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Four intertwined stories. A conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a heroin addict. A trophy wife struggles to save her husband's drug business, while two DEA agents protect a witness with inside knowledge of the spouse's business. In Mexico, a corrupt, yet dedicated cop struggles with his conscience when he learns that his new boss may not be the anti-drug official he made himself out to be. Includes graphic and often violent description of the black market activities supporting the heroin trade in Southern California and Northern Mexico. Cast: Michael Douglas, Dennis Quaid;Benicio del Toro. |
Traffik
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The BBC series upon which the Hollywood film was based. Looks at the heroin trade in Britain and Europe. The Hamburg police arrest an international businessman, charging him with smuggling heroin from Pakistan. While he's on trial, his trophy wife, a former Olympic swimmer, discovers steely ruthlessness within herself. In Pakistan, the British home minister tours the poppy-eradication project and returns to London to find that his daughter is a heroin addict. While trying to save her, and helped by a crusading attorney, he learns the limits of government policy. Fazal, a peasant burned off his land where he farmed poppies, goes to Karachi and works for Tarik Butt, a murderous drug lord. Time: 320 minutes. TV mini-series Distributor: BBC |
Trainspotting
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The story of a group of young friends caught up in heroin dependence in Edinburgh. One tries to give up his heroin habit, and how the drug use effects relationships with friends and family. The Medical Scholars Program describes the movie as having some of the most graphic and emotionally accessible descriptions of a heroin high. Cast: Ewan McGregor. |
Under the Influence
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A long-time alcoholic's drinking begins to have a devastating effect not only on his personal life but on his family as well. TV movie. Cast: Andy Griffith, Keanu Reeves. |
When a Man Loves a Woman
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This film depicts changes in a women's attitudes to her life, her children, and especially her husband, after her having been in detox. Nicely portrays the impact of alcohol dependency on a marriage. Cast: Meg Ryan, Andy Garcia. |
This list was adapted from one developed by the Alcohol Medical Scholars Program. Information about the films was secured from the Internet Movie Database.