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SPUN

It may not be a comeback on the order of John Travolta’s in Pulp Fiction, but Mickey Rourke’s turn as " The Cook " here is so sinister/ sympathetic, it may make viewers forgive his cinematic sins in the years after Body Heat and Diner. The first 15 claustrophobic minutes spool out in a filthy apartment where Spider Mike (John Leguizamo, more hyper than usual) and four other speed freaks (Mena Suvari, Brittany Murphy, Jason Schwartzman, and Patrick Fugit) wait jumpily for the Cook to concoct a fresh batch of crystal meth. Events send Ross (Schwartzman) on a frenzied three-day road trip that involves picking up a stripper and leaving her tied to his bed while he and the Cook drive around in a post-drug jag. Jonas Åkerlund, a Swedish director of music videos, uses lightning-quick editing to convey hopped-up paranoia (as did Darren Aronofsky with greater success in Requiem for a Dream). Some moments echo Trainspotting for their ick factor (Åkerlund cross-cuts Leguizamo masturbating with Murphy straining on the toilet); some are simply camp. Rourke brings a seedy gravitas to this over-the-top chaos, particularly in the final scenes. Spun makes one want to run home and shower, but it’s hard to keep Rourke’s performance from getting under the skin. (101 minutes)

BY LOREN KING

Issue Date: March 27 - April 3, 2003
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