I don't understand how this is highly rated. It's such an unrealistic portrayal of a drug addiction and most of the characters are just retarded, so many of the scenes in this film were just ridiculous.
Dicaprio also looked about 12 years old which didn't help.
I thought it wasn't that great either... the detoxing was just waaaaaay over the top *beep* And here I speak from experience. God, after being strung out for years (10+) I wasn't bawling my eyes out when I was withdrawling! My friends and I laugh our asses off at that scene in particular.
shareYeah right, you're just *beep* nickthelicker. I bet you've never even touched heroin.
shareEr, it's a bet you would lose, man...
I don't want to get into the finer points of heroin use (though I could), but rest assured you're talking to a veteran of 15+ years of use. First smoking, then snorting, then finally shooting. I enjoy it, which is why anybody uses anything in the first place - they enjoy it.
The withdrawal scenes were just *beep* Which makes me question exactly how deep Jim was really into it... just seems way over the top. A touch similar to Requiem For A Dream, regarding the usage. In RFaD they showed their eyes going huge, when exactly the opposite happens! Your eyes go like tiny pinpricks. Even Trainspotting has several errors. And Irvine Welsh even said himself that he wasn't a heavy user, by his own admission, he lasted about 6months on the stuff before giving up. Which is hardly scratching the surface. At least he did his research though.
I can understand dramatisation, but it was over-dramatised, that's all... Withdrawling tends to be itching and sweating, a bit of puking and *beep* (bad diarrhoea) and that's it. And it lasts for between 2days and a week, sometimes longer. After that it's a psychological *beep* That's the real problem once you're clean, trying to get it out of your head, convincing yourself you don't need/want any. You find yourself making excuses to use ("Just once more will be ok." or just plain old "Ooh, it just feels so good, I want some!"), that's the hardest part. And that lasts from a month or two to years on end! In fact, it stays with you forever, you never forget how nice it felt.
And what's with the swearing at me?
I used to like the film back in the day, then I saw it again after I'd acquired a habit and just noticed the errors. Saying stuff to myself like "Well, that doesn't happen, it's nothing like how they're depicting it..." Same with other aforementioned films...
Well then I apologize, since we know you'll be going soon, cuz all heroin addicts I know either died early or bedridden and f-cked.
And by the way, I used a swear word, but didn't actually swear at you in my previous post, what I said was "Yeah right, you're just b u l l s h i t t i n g, nickthelicker". The system beep that out so it looks like I swear at you.
Ok, well that clears that up then!
As for heroin addicts, most of the ones I know are well into their 60s!
And I ain't going anywhere any time soon, but it wouldn't bother me if I did, cos that way I wouldn't be sharing my world with narrow minded people like yourself.
Good day, sir!
So you categorized people who say no to heroin as "narrow minded". Haha, that's rich. If by being clean and sober and chasing my dream without being psychologically f-cked by the likes of heroin is what you called "narrow minded", then I'd be more than happy to be "narrow minded" throughout my life.
Now, good day to you and GOOD LUCK. You need it. Seriously.
That's not what I'm saying at all...
Many people can live long and pretty normal lives with drugs, heroin or otherwise....
nickthelick youre clearly full of *beep* If you were withdrawing from drugs you would be screaming and crying as your insides crumbled. Any drug addict who has written a book will tell you, any rehab centre that has had to deal with someone withdrawing will confirm it. YOU question Jim Corol? Have you even read The Basketball Diaries. Ever watched an interview with him. Your a joke. You clearly never touched the stuff in your life and anyone with a brain knows it. You only have to go on youtube to hear drug addicts tell their story.
shareAs a recovering addict, I can tell you this is the most realistic portrayal of drug addiction currently available. You're extremely ignorant.
shareI'm not sure if you're talking to me with this comment. I'm certainly not ignorant when it comes to heroin addiction.
I guess it's a different experience for everyone. You look quite young in your pic, the older you get as a junkie the more cynical you seem to get also, or nihilistic even.
I didn't find it realistic at all, and neither did my friends, and I don't just mean friends that use, even my 'straight' friends found it hard to believe. In the film he's having a rather severe nervous breakdown whilst withdrawling, that's never happened to me, or anybody else I know. I can honestly say I was never crawling across the floor crying my eyes out... Puking and s-hi-tting is about as far as it goes with me. After that it's just the psychological head-f-u-c--k that does me in, you know, being unable to get it out of your head for 5 minutes. Wondering where you can get a bag, if you should get a bag, just one more hit that's all... that kind of thing.
I enjoy it, and continue to enjoy it after 15 years use, and I don't care if does kill me to be honest. Please don't take what I say to heart, as I'm talking personally. People should be able to choose whatever they want to put in their bodies as long as it hurts nobody else.
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Hi, yeah I understand that that's my experience, but quite a few of my friends hold the same opinion too... junkies or not (people who've lived with users).
It's just that out of all the films concerning heroin, myself and my friends found it to be the most unrealistic.
It's no big deal really.
The problem with your statement is the fact that it is not "unrealistic" at all.
It is objectively realistic.
This story was written by Jim Carol who was a junkie in real life.
And this film is almost exactly how it happened.
So, just because because it differs from your personal experience doesn't mean it is unrealistic.
Assuming you're not lying.. I'm also a recovering addict and I found it very unrealistic.
1. Withdrawal isn't THAT bad. It's bad, but you don't get seizures and crawl on the floor with spit dripping down ur mouth, grunting like a pig.
2. When Pedro meets Leo at the end and is clearly sick (withdrawing) he asks him if he wanna share some dope. Lmao. Like he would save that just in case he jumped into leo on the street.
3. I'm not quite sure how much time passed during the film, but they completely overdid leo's strung out'ness. Not many addicts for 15+ years even look like that. I slammed dope for a year and the only thing that's changed physically are a few scars and i dropped a few pounds.
4. When he got high he just looked depressed. And you don't nod your ass off after every shot.
I've yet to see an actor pull off the junkie 'nod' correctly ... that and the scratching. If you've ever talked to a junkie, and I've talked to plenty, the mannerisms are not that difficult to pick up on.
You always hear about actors 'studying' for their part, going to this neighborhood, meeting with this person or that to pick up on their characteristics etc., you'd think someone would have gotten it down by now. I think that because most people have heard that heroin is the worst or heaviest drug on the list of bad drugs, they think its effect is that of all the others under it on the 'list' (commonly abused drug list) combined. Actually, its a mellow high. If you've ever had surgery, you probably were injected with Demerol pre op or if you've broke bones, had oral surgery etc., you've probably been prescribed an opiate based pain killer. That warm, sleepy feeling, and nodding off is all there is to it really. You can have some bizarre 'dreams' while in the nod but unless you've been given an overdose, you aren't hallucinating etc like with LSD, strong hash etc.
It is more like an alcohol high in this respect - more physical than mind altering. Both can bring on loss of inhibition, a sense of everything is right with the world (euphoria), nausea etc.
Of course heroin is the strongest narcotic (crack is to coke/heroin is to morphine/firecrackers to dynamite) so the deeper you go into the 'sleep' (nod) but still and all, thats basically it. And junkies 'scratch' a lot - a side effect.
I've seen junkies nod while standing on the street talking to another, mid sentence, never quite falling over face to the pavement like a drunk, but come close.
Usually, their bodies sense of balance snaps them back to, which results in them coming around, trying to remember where they left off before the nod overwhelmed them. As they regain their sensibilities, they usually go into a flurry of rapid scratching/itching their face (then other body parts) while saying something like: 'Man ... what was I just sayin' ? Oh yeah, so ... like I was sayin'..." A few seconds later, its all repeated (if they're really bumped).
Wait, ....it just occurred to me.... like a flash:
Ever start falling asleep behind the wheel of a car ??? And you're doing all you can do to stay awake long enough so you can pull over and rest for a little while ? Thats it to the 'T'. No matter how hard you try, how loud you have the radio blasting, how cold the air rushing through opened windows and telling yourself 'I GOTTA stay awake or I'm gonna DIE ..."
And still, your eyes start rolling back in your head. Same as the junkie nod. See there ? Actors don't even have to meet with actual junkies ... just stay awake for 24 hours, get into a car, turn the heater on full blast and try driving for 30 minutes LOL !!
I noticed Juliette Lewis worked on her 'junkie itch' - close, very close, but still not quite right. It involves both the finger tips and the palms of the hands ... kind of like what some people do when they're awakened out of a deep sleep. I'm thinkin' Steve McQueen 'Bullitt' wake up scene here :-) Maybe not, its been awhile.
But at least the director (and adviser) paid attention to that detail. I was in a very bad accident back in '69 and was on some of the heavier stuff while in hospital. I remember the scratching very well so its not a matter of it being 'street' narcotics that causes this. Not sure what does, but
I was told it was a well documented side effect of narcotics pain medication and not to worry about it unless I broke the skin. Oh, one other observance: Not all of them (sorry for the 'them' - sounds elitist) gets mellow/laid back either. I've talked to some who sound like they've just taken coke or speed - very hyper. The skin scratching/itching seemed to speed up too. I don't know if this is just a matter of different people physically reacting different to the heroin or if it has to do with a predisposition to hyperactivity - I didn't know any of these people well enough to know what they were like before they got high - just observations from random conversations on the street.
So nickthelick, wadda ya think ... have I got it right ??
I was a junkie and you're pretty spot on.
shareI have absolutely zero experience with heroine but I'm willing to bet everything you just said was spot on and 100% correct. Well said.
shareActually, it is a REALISTIC portrayal of drug addiction lol. And that isn't my opinion, that's just a fact. Whether you liked the film or not. Plus, this film was amazingly made and the acting was INCREDIBLE! Your post couldn't be further from the truth, you clearly don't know what a good film is when you see one AND have terrible taste. Good bye.
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Jim Caroll was actually only 10 when he started taking drugs. Herion at 13 I believe. According to the book. My only real problem with the film is that it wasn't set in the 60s.
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