Wasted (2002 TV Movie) User Reviews

Sticks with you

[nfmadprops04 · 7/10 · 10 July 2005]

I am from Texas, and live very close to Plano where the actual deaths occurred, so I might be a bit biased in saying that "Wasted" is a film that you just can't get out of your head.

Stahl, Phoenix, and Paul all play their characters very realistically. You truly believe that they are everyday high school students who just happen to be heroin addicts. The drug content is handled very graphically as well - although everything that happens in the film serves a purpose, and each moment the characters spiral further downward is heartbreaking. I definitely recommend this film to anyone. Once you watch it, it sticks with you!

One Fu*k*d up movie

[sillykitty1855 · 5/10 · 26 March 2005]

I just got done watching the movie and I can tell you one thing these kids whose life this movie is based off of have such a sad life. The movie almost gets ridiculous because the good boy (Nick Stahl) trys to help the girl of his dreams (Summer P) kick her drug habit only to become an addict himself. You would think that he saw what she was going through and would NEVER want to even look at smack. Then she gets back into drugs because she is not strong enough to help Nick or herself. The Ending is very sad and realistic maybe to real. Watching this movie you start to understand how addicting drugs really are and how scary and empty it would be to become addicted.

black tar

[98456 · 7/10 · 22 September 2005]

black tar can't be snorted there's a documentary: dark end of the street about s.f. street punks and b.t. abuse - not bad - quite heavy. in wasted there's this stuff that looks like coke but should be something else... no big deal. black tar can't be snorted there's a documentary: dark end of the street about s.f. street punks and b.t. abuse - not bad - quite heavy. in wasted there's this stuff that looks like coke but should be something else... no big deal. black tar can't be snorted there's a documentary: dark end of the street about s.f. street punks and b.t. abuse - not bad - quite heavy. in wasted there's this stuff that looks like coke but should be something else... no big deal.

impressive

[teddyryan · 19 May 2003]

You would think an MTV made flick about drugs would be lopsided in that obnoxious MTV way. But, WASTED is a complete surprise. One of the best TV movies I've ever seen. Extremely poignant and masterfully written. Nick Stahl's performance as Chris is also worth the viewing.

Heroin High

[sol-kay · 6/10 · 26 May 2009]

***SPOILERS***Honset and shocking depiction of how Americas youth gets hooked on drugs despite the best efforts of their parents and law enforcement to keep that on the straight and narrow.

The movie centers around three lifelong friends Samanatha, Summer Phoenix, Chris, Nick Stahl, and Owen, Aaron Paul. Attending Cambridge high Samantha had gotten heavily involved with drugs that may well destroy any chances she-a once straight "A" student-has in being given a collage scholarship. Having dried out in a drug rehab center in town Samantha soon gets involved with her friend the drug addicted, and fellow student in Cambridge High, Owen who's as high as a kite, on heroin, and wants Samantha to be high together with him.

It's Chris who goes out of his way to get Samantha, who almost OD'ed, back on track by getting her to the hospital emergency ward, while her boyfriend Owen was either too scared or drugged out to do it, that saved her life. Chris a track star in Cambridge soon got hooked on drugs himself when he busted his knee in practice. Together with both Owen and Samantha Chris started to seek out the local drug dealers to supply him with the big "H", heroin, that seemed, only to himself, to give him the pep and energy that he needed to compete in high school track and field events.

Being dropped from the track team by his coach, Joe Norman Shaw, because of his inability, because of his drug addiction, to keep up with the other runners Chris descended deeper and deeper into the hell that his drug addiction tuned out to be. It's when Samantha's friend Amy, Bittney Irvin, joined the trio-Samantha Chris & Owen- that things got even worse then they already were.

***SPOILERS***Amy who specialized in shoplifting not doing drugs was encouraged by Owen to get high with him on drugs. This lead to Amy, who never used heroin before, to suffer a fatal drug overdose that had her friend Owen on the run from the police! Owen is wanted by the local police not just for contributing to the delinquency of a minor but for first degree homicide-that can put him behind bars for at least ten years-in causing Amy's heroin induced death! As for the once straight as an arrow Chris he completely freaked out by feeling more responsible for what happened to Amy then even Owen, who supplied her with drugs. It's then that Chris decided to end it all in one last fatal blast from his already, that he's been jabbing himself daily with, dirty and heroin filled syringe.

P.S Based on a true story the film "Wasted" has to do with a suburban Texas High School that had some 50 of its students end up being addicted on, and busted for using, heroin with over a dozen of them dying from it.

educational

[beachbum258 · 8/10 · 5 June 2005]

being a high school student,i have to take a health class. this year, the topic is drugs. we learn about the harm they can cause a person. from what we talk about, i still believe and know that drugs can really mess a person up. anyway, my teacher wanted us to watch this. naturally, we groan and start to sleep, but like the rest of my class, i actually did enjoy this movie. it was totally real, and not sugar coated at all. the characters were amazing and believable. even the plot was outstandingly realistic and believable. what i liked about this movie mainly was how it got the point of the effect's drugs can take on an abuser, and the consequences the person has to deal with. everyone reassures themselves that nothing bad will happen to them. well lets get serious. anything can happen in a small town, even to your best friend, like Sam and Chris. this movie shows it. a person can really learn a lot from watching this. it was pretty effective.

Uneventful MTV Movie

[Kitrich · 4/10 · 3 March 2004]

Wasted is just that, a waste of time. MTV is churning out made for TV movies at quite a clip nowadays. A friend of mine recommended this and i rented it, needless to say i will not be pursuing anymore recomendations from her anytime soon. This movie shows the rollercoaster of drug use. The problem is, you really don't care about any of the characters due to lack of believabilty and their own self discipline. This movie is in a word, annoying to watch, from the terrible camera angles to the quality of dialogue and pacing. The 'digital' format tries for realism, but comes up distracting. If you want a true scope on drug use watch Requiem for a Dream.

definitely not a waste of time

[picuco9 · 10/10 · 20 May 2003]

I saw this movie yesterday night and it was one of the best made for TV films I've seen. It was very well directed and the acting was superb, very convincing. The music was good and the cinematography was beautifully shot. Take out the hopelessness out of Requiem for a Dream and you get wasted. An excellent depiction of the world of drug addiction and its consequences given in a very open way in wich anyone can relate to. cudos to mtv for giving us a good flick for a change from !*$*% like Crossroads.

Spare Me The Self-Pity

[Theo Robertson · 4/10 · 13 August 2003]

There were two things I hated about WASTED : The directing and the script . I know I`m opening myself up to ridicule but Stephen T Kay`s direction is too much like a .... like a .... well like a MTV pop video . It`s shot ( I think ) on digital video against an intrusive soundtrack , often out of focus and often with rapid cross cutting . If you`re not a teenager you`ll find many segments of WASTED unwatchable due to the stylistic approach . As bad as the directing was it was the script that yanked my chain . The story is told through Samantha , a poor little rich girl who spends much of the film talking through voice over ( Strange how the voice over never seems idiosyncratic enough to have come from the same character ) telling us of the pressure of her exams , the pressure of home life , her social solitude and it`s all this that led her to take drugs . It`s for similar reasons like parental break up that her two male friends ( I thought she was supposed to be lonely ? ) to start taking drugs . Oh poor little Sammi in her nice house and her problems how my heart bled for you and your chums - NOT . What WASTED doesn`t mention is that no matter what someone is addicted to , be it drink , drugs , nicotine or chocolate that person has to work at becoming an addict , they`re not a victim of external forces , they`re commiting an act of free will . Both TRAFFIC and TRAINSPOTTING made this point very well , people become addicts because they want to . To portray them as victims in any way is wrong patronising and very possibly dangerous

By the way , if MTV are anti drugs will they stop playing videos from stars who freely admit taking drugs ?

Where can i find this????

[cobalt166-1 · 10/10 · 25 February 2003]

I saw this a good while ago, but i just cant get over it. I have looked everywhere to try and find out where i can get a copy of it but i have not been able to get a hold of it. I really reccomend this movie and if anyone has any info about how i can get a copy then let me know. thanx

10 out of 10!!!

[ally141 · 2 August 2003]

I just saw this movie tonight and i was completely surprised by it! I was expecting it to be like most TV movies are but it was one of the best movies ive seen in ages! Nick Stahls performance was excellent and he completely stole the movie!! It was such a gripping drama, so true to life and every second was worth watching!Judging by the other user comments its Definitely worth 2hours of your time and you wont be disappointed!! i really wanna see it again but cant find it anywhere in the UK so fingers crossed it may be out soon or maybe shown on tv again!!!!:)

Surprisingly Amazing

[KatieSmellsLikePumpkins · 10/10 · 22 May 2003]

What can I say? I couldn't sleep and I came across this movie on MTV. I started watching it with every intention of changing the channel if it started to get lame as so many anti-drug movies do but I got sucked into this movie and I couldn't stop watching. Nick Stahl did an amazing job with his character, and in my opinion he really made the movie something worth watching. I was interested in purchasing the soundtrack to the movie (or even the movie itself) and MTV.com was no help at all, but believe it or not Amazon.com is taking pre-orders for the August 5th release of the movie on DVD. I know I had a hard time tracking it down, and I'm sure other people might have had the same problem. I'm buying my own copy so I can drool over Nick Stahl while bawling my eyes out at the same time thanks to the emotional storyline!

Not so wasted...

[oreo77277 · 8/10 · 18 March 2002]

I wasn't planning on watching wasted when I saw the MTV preview but since I had nothing better to do or watch on a Sunday night I watched it.

Wasted was no Requiem for a Dream but it was a very good movie considering it was made by MTV. One thing that drew me to watching it was Summer Pheonix the sister of the late and wonderful River Pheonix stared. I suppose talent runs in the Pheonix family because she was good and so is Jaquien though niether are River. Nick Stahl also gives a great preformance as a junky jock. There isn't much else to say about wasted. It was a dark depressing and insightful look into the lives of three small town junkies. I recomend it to those who like the subject. 8/10

I really liked it

[MySilentReverie · 10/10 · 19 March 2002]

I watched this movie the night it premiered on MTV. Usually to me MTV Movies are kind of stupid but this one was so good. Summer Phoenix is an amazing actress and I thought that Nick Stahl was good too. If MTV started showing more movies like this I would probably enjoy the channel a lot more.

Addiction vs. Sobriety

[LATENITE · 24 March 2002]

I wanted to see this movie to get a corny glimpse of MTV getting hypocritical about drug use, because these days much music (hip-hop especially) is blatantly pro-marijuana. What it turned out to be was an enthralling look at a group of friends battling with heroin addiction. Summer Phoenix was very believable as a recovering addict and the rest of the cast did very well in their roles. I saw a bit of 'Requiem for a Dream' in this, but maybe that's ineveitable in an anti-drug movie. I didn't love or hate this movie, but it kept me with my eyes glued to the screen for the full run of it. It was an emotionally powerful movie, indeed.

I loved the film.

[haileebobailee · 10/10 · 18 March 2002]

I thought this movie was awesome and the two guys nick and aaron are hotties!!!!! I wish i could watch it over and over. I loved the plot and whole concept of the movie. It is great and I wish i had taped it last night.Nick I love You!!!!!!

Nick Stahl is amazing!

[beauty_in_the_breakdown2 · 9/10 · 11 April 2006]

Spoiler begin The movie focuses on three friends, Samantha (Summer Phoenix), Chris (Nick Stahl), and Owen (Aaron Paul). The movie starts out with Sam and Owen as the drug addicts, and Chris, the track star, as the one who takes care of them. As things get increasingly worse at home for Chris, he asks Sam what the drug is like. Sam is out of rehab and sober by this point and tells him it makes everything better. Chris then catches up with Owen and they start using. It takes chris two times till he is a " full time member". After some trouble with a dealer and a confession to Sam, she gets in again. So begins the downward spiral for them. Chris od's when he breaks a promise to Sam (I want some of the movie to be a surprise). He dies, Sam gets in to college to be an Architect, and Owen gets arrested. so ends the story

Spoiler ends. minor spoilers throughout

Nick stahl is amazing. He will have an Oscar one day. His portrayal of Chris was Heartbreaking. He was the only one that felt real in the movie as far as drug use goes. Aaron Paul who played Owen acted as if he were on speed not heroin. Summer Phoenix was fine, she is talented but what can i say Nick Stahl stole the movie. His drugged eyes, his slow movements, everything was perfect.

The writers needed to show withdrawls in the movie. That is a main reason why people don't want to quit. Other then that there are hilarious scenes (the mall scene, and the Backstreet boy scene,man Stahl nailed the reactions right on the head.), Touching, sad scenes (Like the scene between Sam and Chris in her bedroom after he gets beat up, i bawled, and the park scene.). It was realistic too. Like S am using again when Chris wanted to flush the drug down the toilet, and Chris using again after he goes to Own's, even though he had been clean for two weeks, the pull was too strong. it is all realistic.

Watch the movie for a great cast, great music, and a semi- truthful account of drug addiction.

Really Upsetting!!!!!

[catcherye19 · 10/10 · 4 November 2005]

I just saw this movie tonight(5th Nov. 2005)for the first time. I wanted to watch it cause I saw the basketball diaries(Leonardo Di Caprio) and loved that but this was far more heavy going. I think it had a good depiction of drugs to an extent. I empathize mostly with Nick Stahls character, probably because if I someone I was crazy about was on that stuff I'd want to help them get off it. A promising student and athlete who spends all his time training and studying-well it's understandable that he'd want to try teenage life(the crazy side of it) and in his efforts as what begins is helping his friend he ends up addicted because he wanted to see what it is all about and because of his horrendous family situation which results in his most tragic death. A truly sad film but one flaw i noticed is that you don't get a good enough insight into the damage it does to families but apart from that, excellent performances on a truly heartbreaking movie.

For Parents an Eye Opener, for Teens a dose of Reality

[fleur-kelly · 11 April 2004]

This Movie or should it be called a Fictional Mini Auto Biography based on True events flows evenly all the way through. It's pacing is pretty much like a slow boat to China, but this pace is needed to show people how to spot the signs of a possible Smack addiction with someone they know. Summer Phoenix does a good job narrating the tale of herself, a A+ Student who has a Cocaine addiction and her down on their luck Junky Bestfriends (Played by: Nick Stahl-The Caring Athlete who's home life is going down the toilet and Aaron Paul-The Rich Kid who has nothing but the next hit of smack in mind). But how much more can you say about "Wasted"? Sure it's a educational movie for parents to open their eyes to what their kids might be doing when they go out to parties and what symptoms to look for if their kids do have a addiction. But for kids it's just another dose of Reality and kids are really becoming desensitized to certain serious matters of the world.

Wow, what a movie! This film shows the raw reality of heroine use among suburbia teens.

[SpryteKeri · 9/10 · 18 March 2002]

This movie was amazing. Never before have I seen such a film that brought me to the harsh reality of drug use quite like this one. There is no glamorizing, sugar coating, or glorifying heroine. This movie shows the true struggles, pain, and loss people go through when dealing with this drug. Good film, decent emotionally packed acting, and a great storyline. A much watch!

One of the worst movies I ever seen. Problem is

[MJohnsontalker · 24 August 2003]

###spoiler warning. Do not read if you haven't seen###

One of the worst movies I ever seen. Problem is I was unable to turn it off until it was over. I wanted to see what was going to happen to each of the characters.

It has some of the worst acting I have ever seen. The drug use, shop lifting and house robbing were a big joke. I mean right. They could steal that many CD's from the same place without getting caught. Give me a break. I know this is somewhat based on a true story, but the over do it.

Many of the actors need to go back to school and practice drama. I just had to laugh at the fact no one really seemed concerned as there friends were dying. The crying segments looked more like these kids lost their bikes then a friend.

Poor, no quality or value what so ever. Does not send a message worth hearing about. I do not suggest.

Wasted? That's what I did with my time seeing this.

[buckaroobanzai50 · 31 October 2003]

Absolute rubbish this. Lame direction, boring script and acting from all concerned, and it looked like someone's home movie shot on digi video. Summer Pheonix is sexy and all, but that's not enough to hold my attention during a flick.

Must try harder MTV.

good movie

[lexyo · 25 July 2002]

'Wasted' was an awesome movie. It is kind of predictable, but very moving. It really got to me, and it makes you think when it comes to illegal drugs and how it effects your life. Summer Phoenix (Samantha), Aaron Paul (Owen), and Nick Stahl (Chris) play an awesome trio in the movie. MTV did a good job at presenting the movie also when it premiered this year.