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Oregon Movies: Drugstore Cowboy
Drugstore Cowboy
Directed by Gus Van Sant
Starring Matt Dillon and Kelly Lynch
Copyright © 1989
Warning
Rated R. This movie may include content that is objectionable to some viewers. Discretion is advised.
Oregon connection
Filmed in Portland about Portland by Oregon director Gus Van Sant in 1988.
About this movie (by Hal Erickson, Rovi)
"The operative word in Drugstore Cowboy is 'drug.' Matt Dillon plays the leader of a group of dopeheads who wander around the country robbing pharmacies to feed their habits. Dillon's chums include doltish James Le Gros and teen-age junkie Heather Graham; also along for the ride is Dillon's wife Kelly Lynch. Their nemesis is cop James Remar, whom Dillon takes perverse delight in humiliating.
When one of the young addicts dies of an overdose, it promps Dillon to try to go straight, a task complicated by wife Lynch's determination to stay high and by the corrupting presence of an ex-priest, played by Naked Lunch author William Burroughs. Drugstore Cowboy was director Gus Van Sant's breakthrough picture."
Notable Oregonian entry for Gus Van Sant