Spun
Jonas Akerlund

Graham Barnfield

The release of Spun marks a new low in the ‘drugs are a mixed blessing’ cycle of recent movies. Having already gone to video in the US, this poor piece limps onto UK screens after a critical mauling at Edinburgh International Film Festival.

And it’s dross, salvaged only by a dignified turn from Mickey Rourke as ‘the cook’, whose antics in methamphetamine preparation liven things up temporarily while assorted teen stars search fruitlessly for an edge to ease them into future adult roles.

No doubt the usual suspects will rail against the glamorisation of drugs, although it’s clear that some of the budget has been wasted on trying to de-glamorise stars like Brittany Murphy and Mena Suvari into looking wasted. The soundtrack’s hip opening, a slow-mo version of Iron Maiden’s ‘Number of the Beast’, suggests something promising is on the way: after all, directors like Jonathan 'Sexy Beast' Glazer made a successful transition from music video to features. Yet the search for cool will always founder once cliché gets in the way.

If you’ve seen Trainspotting, Requiem for a Dream and The Salton Sea, then Spun’s visuals will seem hackneyed and repetitive, stolen from elsewhere and showing that thoughtless thievery and meticulous storyboarding can go hand in hand. If this is tweaking meth, then pass the mogadon.