The 5: Authentic Movie Drug Scenes

This Week on the 5:  Realistic Drugs Scenes in Film

Drug scenes in movies can sometimes be completely unrealistic.  They are exaggerated,  or even just outright silly.  They stick out like a sore thumb to even the most inexperienced viewers.  But every now and then, drug scenes actually ring authentic.  Maybe even a little too authentic.  Here are our picks for five realistic drug scenes in film.

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  • Boogie Nights.  These two ladies are wired. Rollergirl and Amber Waves are played by Heather Graham and Julianne Moore to perfection in this scene.  The dialogue is breakneck because their brains are spinning like pinwheels Anyone who has been on a long difficult coke run has said “I don’t want to leave this room.” This may be the most believable blow scene ever filmed.
  • Panic in Needle Park.  Al Pancino plays Bobby, a drug addict hanging in Needle Park in Westside of Manhattan . It’s the 1970s and heroin addicts are growing demographic in the city Cooking dope with a bunch of junkies. Sharing needles with ravaged veins. It’s ugly, nasty and stinks like death.
  • Trainspotting.  Ewan McGregor’s character OD’s and yet goes to a place that feels wonderful. As his body is dragged and manhandled to the hospital, Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” plays sweetly as a soundtrack to the warm safe world that McGregor feels he is in. As he is saved from his overdose we see Renton/McGregors face looking crestfallen to be back with the living.
  • Requiem for a Dream.   Ellen Burstyn is the best thing in Requiem for a Dream. Speed is a horrifying drug that rots your body and brain. Speed addiction is a living nightmare and Burstyn gives one of the greatest and most realistic performances in film history.
  • Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.  Johnny Depp plays Hunter S Thompson doing his best to maintain as the acid terrors creep up on him. When the faces turn freakish and the carpet starts to swirl, just act normal and keep moving. There is no other choice.

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