Drugstore Cowboy 1989

Stephen Holden, New York Times: The film takes us so deeply into this shabby, transient world that we feel its texture -- both its scary thrills and its bleak, fatalistic uncertainty. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: All the actors are used expertly, but it's Burroughs, cropping up near the end, who articulates the film's sociopolitical moral in a contemporary context. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: The movie stars Matt Dillon, in one of the great recent American movie performances. Read more

Geoff Andrew, Time Out: Though hardly earth-shakingly original, Van Sant's low-budget movie takes a cool, contemplative and sometimes comic look at American drug-culture. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: No previous drug-themed film has the honesty or originality of Gus Van Sant's drama Drugstore Cowboy. Read more

Hal Hinson, Washington Post: The performers make their affectlessness expressive. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Ultimately it's Dillon who has the biggest score; he makes this stark trip a heady, hopeful one. Read more