Junkie

Adam Mason pours a cocktail of taboos in the independent film "Junkie". Sex! Drugs! Rock and Roll? (Well, there is a cool soundtrack of songs by The Dogs d'Amour) But, in "Junkie" the third word to add to any proclamation starting with Sex & Drugs is blood. And, damn straight, there are buckets of it. Here, there, everywhere. So, now that the obvious aspect of the film is out of the way; let's move into what makes Adam Mason's "Junkie" a hypnotic trip. Broken family. Broken dreams. Broken house. Danny and Nicky are in a fight between themselves, the past and future. And in this film, the ring these two square off in a house that looks like it's stuck in a time warp. Dirty dishes, dirty house and dirty souls all about. Danny (Daniel Louis Rivas) dwells in depression. Nicky (Robert LaSardo) exists in excess. When their drug connection Otto (Tomas Boykin ) arrives, he tickles the brothers' funny bones and veins. Danny's ex Sonja (Tess Panzer) pops by to see if the wagon is in tact; or if he's burning it down like the bridge of their relationship. Toss in Dad (Andrew Howard) into this mix; and, the twisting of sobriety and sanity goes through the roof and gets straddled into the basement for both brothers. Rivas' performance has a twitchy Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates quality to it. His character of Danny is low-key. Now, of course when one key is low, another has to be crashing the cymbals. And, in "Junkie", Robert LaSardo's character Nicky does just that. His performance is as high as helium and furious as a Tasmanian devil. Adam Mason's direction plays off both character's quirks. In an unobtrusive style, director Mason lets the camera fall back and let the actors rip it up. Robert LaSardo is an unguided missile in red boxer trunks. For that character, that wardrobe is an apt choice. Nicky's battling his brother and clawing for a championship. Danny, on the other hand, is just trying to stay one step ahead of the next round coming around the bend. Written by Simon Boyes and Adam Mason, there is an improvisational quality to the interactions of the leads and supporting cast. And, if you look closely, there is even a scene with a flash of poignancy between both brothers. It passes by quickly, but Nicky (Robert LaSardo) and Danny (Daniel Louis Rivas) really hit the mark in that scene. Adam Mason's "Junkie" proves that the greatest obstacle to getting clean and sober is the person who knows us best.

If you watch this, do so with an open mind, and I mean WIDE open.

It's incredible. While I was watching it I had the thought in my mind of something I read quite recently where some well known voice had derided addiction as disease. He (at least I think it was a 'he') stated that addiction is not a disease as with addiction one can choose to give up at any time, whereas with disease one can not. I.e. If I am an alcoholic, then I can stop drinking and get well, with some will power and support perhaps. If I have cancer I can't simply decide not to have cancer any more. Although this is true in some cases, as in cancer, it's certainly not true of all cases. Addiction is a disease, same as cancer, only it's a different type of disease.

This film takes a deep, raw look at addiction, from a very interesting perspective. It's a kick in the face of the usual crap which deals with addiction.

I saw this movie today and it is an amazing film if you can finish it. I do see the fight club similarity and once you understand what's going on it totally makes sense.Seeing addiction personified also helps if you are or know someone who is or was an addict.I found Danny easily able to relate to and once you descend into his madness you can empathize with him. It's almost like someone took the scene from Trainspotting where Marc is going through withdrawal and focused on that. The last two minutes are what makes this movie, how Nicky speaks to you honestly and tries to help you.This films belongs right up there with the likes of Trainspotting.

Original this is. Good though it isn't. The video work is great for what they are dealing with, and sound,and editing are really much better than a movie like this should be aloud to have.

If you get past the first 20 minutes, I am not sure if that would made me feel proud, or sad for you. This is a movie about Junkies. Not the trainspotting funny messed up people you don't really know, but the real dirt people. The 5% of society that will rip the teeth out of your head for a fix. The people who use each other, and know that even if you were dead, and they might miss you, your stuff will make their pain go away.

I hate these people,we all do, and this movie though not glorifying them, is still just a load of horse in the wrong vein. Skip it, don't even read the liner notes.

Such a shame to as these really are some of the LA actors that people like to watch perform.

To begin, I watched this movie with the idea it wasn't going to be anything that spectacular from seeing the low rating here but I dare to give some things a go and I know my interests can be different to others so i delved in and I was not disappointed.

Junkie follows the distorted life of Danny(Daniel Louis Rivas), a confused addict to many addictions with no sure way of coming clean, especially under the guidance of his lunatic, multi-faced house mate Nicky ( Robert LaSardo). As Danny's life unravels and all the colorful people of his life invade his head and home, Danny attempts to lock horns with old devils to save himself.

This is a nice fresh look at addiction, not quite as home hitting as Requiem For A Dream or as distorted as Train Spotting, but the blending of black humor and serious drama is a fantastic union that co-encides wonderfully. The humor is crude, the drama, (I was surprised there actually was quite a lot), was intense and the point was driven and important and very poetic.

Very happy to see Robert LaSardo in a main role, very good acting on his behalf and well used actor to character.

This film takes an open mind to appreciate, don't go too far down the rabbit hole and you will see what it really is.

The film did have some rocky moments, that the humor comes right on the heels of the violence and drama but that could strenghten the sporadic feel of Danny's addicts view.

Also, don't listen to anybody that say's it's a Fight Club rip off, this is about redemption from Addiciton not redemption through self destroying.