Cocaine Angel (2006) User Reviews

small movie with limited potential

[dragokin · 4/10 · 2 May 2013]

Probably the strongest quality of Cocaine Angel is that it might motivate you to make a movie yourself. Well, if not that much, at least it might motivate you to do something creative, be it taking a photo, writing a short story or poem or merely assembling another blog entry.

Produced with limited means, Cocaine Angel tells a simple, mostly linear, story. Some of the actors are obviously amateurs, but this adds to its charm. And we'll need all positive vibrations we can get, since we'll be following a drug addict during his regular day.

Personally, i'm wondering why it is appealing to portray drug addicts, alcoholics or maniacs of all kinds and create work of art in an attempt to uncover some kind of beauty. With Cocaine Angel, though, we end up with a movie that is neither strong enough as an anti-drugs message nor extreme enough to show beauty in filth and garbage of an addict's life...

*spoiler* Insulting to anyone who has been through addiction *spoiler*

[craig01 · 3/10 · 27 August 2007]

Actually, if you ever did Coke, it's going to be more annoying than insulting. It's the portrayal of 24 hours in the life of an ANNOYING coke addict. He rambles on, he's an idiot, he drinks too much.. yada yada.

The worst part is that it's unconvincing. That's what makes it doubly annoying is that his cocaine monologues are just bad... not real at all. Maybe good to someone who has never done drugs in their life, but if you've ever been an addict or are one you will probably just laugh at him or turn it off.

That guy would probably just get robbed/laughed at trying to get coke. I have to write 10 lines but there is not much more to say about this. It just made me snarl at a REALLY annoying man that I felt absolutely no compassion for. He was a talentless POS, period. *SPOILER AHEAD*

I wish he would have OD'd and not the pretty girl who at least had SOMETHING to offer.

Im glad it's over. Watch Requiem or Fear and Loathing. This movie sucks.

The movie is even more pretentious than these positive reviews...

[nglazas · 1/10 · 20 June 2010]

As I watched Cocaine Angel, I couldn't help but imagine Damian Lahey fantasizing about himself as the next up and coming hot young screenwriter. He may very well be a talented writer, however, this movie is certainly not an example of that. It's painfully obvious he has never lived the life he's trying to portray in this film. It attempts to follow in the footsteps of Barfly,Permanent Midnight,Requiem for A Dream ,Basketball Diaries, etc. All of which were great films written (or based on literature written) by people who lived the life they wrote about. This seems more like a film written by a guy whose watched a lot of drug behavior in movies and TV, and perhaps even snorted a few lines in his time. But, I promise he wasn't shooting coke in any gas station bathroom with a kid in the car. Write what you know. He attempts to shock me with an oral sex scene that takes place next to a toddler, but it doesn't work. I've already seen a dead baby crawling on the ceiling to techno music in a good scene from a good movie (Trainspotting). Nice try. That and 2 consecutive overly acted overdose deaths that happen within 5 minutes of each other fail to impress.

On that note, anyone who actually thinks this guy can act may need to make sure they haven't suffered any kind of recent head trauma. Him and the dreadlock guy, Mike ("My wife! I loved that bitch."), are pretty terrible. Actually, most everyone is quite awful. Really, if you think the acting is good you should probably go to the ER. If you want a gritty drug movie try some of the above mentioned films.

Poetry of Addiction

[aprilruth99 · 10/10 · 8 March 2007]

We have seen it all before. We have seen it done masterfully; Requiem for a Dream, Half-Nelson, etc... We have seen it done abysmally; too many to mention. A basically likable character with once good intentions dives/falls into the depths of addiction and the world of horror that inevitably comes with it. Cocaine Angel does not have a shockingly different story to tell. Scott, a once seemingly gainfully, if not boringly employed 20-something, fully entrenched in his cocaine and alcohol addictions, struggles his way through his life in small town Florida. The story is simple, but the telling raises this film into the ranks of its austere predecessors. It takes place over just a few days of Scott's life. They are not the first few days in his downward spiral, and they are not the last. Cocaine Angel is a slice of life, in the most poetic sense. This slice is a metaphor for not only Scott's whole existence but a metaphor for the nature of addiction itself. Damien Lahey's portrayal of Scott, while on one hand almost uncomfortably truthful, is peppered with surprisingly poignant beauty. One moment Lahey as Scott is all ticks and paranoia, fiending for a fix, the next he enthralls with a heart-breaking allegory of his past. Soon to be released for DVD distribution, Cocaine Angel is a testament to true Independent Film.

Difficult, rough, gritty and honest!

[cinemactivist · 10/10 · 14 February 2008]

"Cocaine Angel" is a difficult film to watch and a difficult film to review. Therein lies both its virtue and its short-coming. This is a rough, gritty, honest portrayal of the life of crack addicts and cocaine junkies – not to mention your assorted pill-poppers – that opens very graphically and shocks you into their world. Writer and main actor Damian Lahey takes you places that most "average" people don't want to go or even visit for an afternoon, the world of people whose only thought is their next high. These people are rude, ungrateful of any help offered, spiraling toward the abyss fully conscious of the trajectory.

For anyone who has lived in urban or suburban American and known anyone who was a serious substance abuser, the ring of truth tolls throughout this feature film. That is what makes it such a difficult film to watch and to review. While admiring the honesty portrayed on screen, one cannot but come away from this film feeling soiled and depressed.

The film is the debut directorial effort of Michael Tully and made the festival run from Rotterdam to South-by-Southwest (SXSW,) Jacksonville (FL) where the film is set, Sarasota (FL) and the Raindance film festival. My fellow film reviewers, like Dennis Lim at the Village Voice and the un-bylined reviewer at Filmmaker Magazine have hailed the work as a "minor masterpiece." I shan't go that far. I will quote Filmmaker Magazine's take on the piece though. They wrote, "…caked in legitimate, unforgettable grime, one that makes similar Hollywood efforts seem as fake as an orange juice commercial." No argument from this quarter with that assessment.

This is an unremittingly grim picture of the addicted with no holds barred. The few bits of humor in it are left-handed. For example, Lahey limps through the film wearing one shoe, while his other foot is bare - except for a bloody makeshift bandage he wears as he hobbles and bobbles through his so-called life. And then there is Mary, his putative lover, the thematic cocaine angel of the title. She is a sometimes hooker, hoping to get back to see her daughter who lives in another state. Mary is harsh, crude, angry and unrepentant. We are led to believe that there is some love between she and her loser boyfriend, Scott, portrayed by Lahey, but the signs of love are few and far between.

I don't do spoilers in reviews. I leave it to you to decide if you'd like to see this film and how the tale plays out. Follow its tawdry twists and turns if you dare look into the dark world of addiction. Don't expect to come away from it without being a bit taken aback and chastened.

By Rod Amis a CinemActivist

Excellent Indie Debut...

[EVOL666 · 8/10 · 1 July 2006]

COCAINE ANGEL - the debut feature-film from Director Michael Tully, is likely to be compared to other such drug-themed films as REQUIEM FOR A DREAM and THE BASKETBALL DIARIES - and with good reason. These films typically deal with the similar and disturbing subject matter of substance abuse and its inevitable pitfalls. But instead of copying these films, COCAINE ANGEL creates its own world, inhabited by the likes of such colorful characters as lead protagonist (anti-protagonist?) Scott, lovable crack-head Mary, and the briefly seen, but equally memorable, Hurricane Mike. There is also a vein of genuine humor in these characters interactions that in some ways makes COCAINE ANGEL at times lighter than others of the drug-film sub-genre, which are typically dark and somber - while still making an impact and respecting the subject matter. If COCAINE ANGEL is to be related to such classic films as REQUIEM and BASKETBALL - I think that's quite good company, especially for a first feature.

COCAINE ANGEL follows a week in the life of Scott (played convincingly by the films writer, Damian Lahey) - an addict of little discrimination who comes off as a strange amalgamation of a young Woody Allen, and off-the-cuff comedian Adam Carolla (for lack of a better description)...with a serious drinking and drug problem. Most of Scott's time is spent copping for a fix and drinking anything and everything in sight. When not involved in his favorite activities, we get to meet some of the other degenerates that inhabit Scott's world - most of whom are actually more f!cked-up than Scott himself. We get to meet Scott's sometimes-hooker crack-head girlfriend Mary, and the insanely dysfunctional couple of hard-core pill-popper Hurricane Mike, and his wife Helen. We learn that both Mike and Mary each have children of their own (a side storyline that I would have liked to have seen developed further) where of course they play the absentee parents. As the drug-abuse escalates, the inevitable breakdowns both physical and mental occur, resulting in the films most harrowing and powerful scene. The resolution of the film (after further confirmation by Tully) is left purposely vague, allowing the audience to assume either a hopeful outcome or a possible complete disintegration for our anti-hero.

Although the film deals with serious and sometimes disturbing subject matter and material, COCAINE ANGEL deftly balances a mix of genuinely funny scenes, situations, and dialog, without ever making light of or glamorizing the seriousness of drug-addiction. Tully's direction is sure-handed and solid, and sucks you into Scott's drug-induced haze of a universe far more effectively than would have seemed possible given the budget constraints. Laheys performance as Scott is refreshing and incredibly believable, which is rarely seen in independent films of this caliber, and is oftentimes a low-budget films downfall. There is something very "knowable" and real about Scott that makes his otherwise scumbag character endearing and worthy of the audiences sympathy. The supporting cast are all competent in their respective roles, but it is Lahey's performance that will be most memorable and applauded. Also of note is the film's score, which helped bring out the emotion in scenes, without becoming overbearing or forced.

If I were to give criticism to the film as a whole, it would really only be in a few minor technical areas. There were a few scenes where the audio seemed low and sometimes hard to follow, and the lighting in a few scenes tended to be a little dark - but this may have been Tully's intention (I guess Ill find out for sure if we do the interview, right Mike?). There were also a few shaky camera scenes in the middle of the film that I could have done without...but this same technique was used very powerfully in the climax. None of these aspects however really negatively impact the overall production, and are only my personal gripes.

COCAINE ANGEL is a powerful and moving film that all involved with should be VERY proud of. The film is currently playing the festival circuit, most recently showing at the world-renowned SXSW festival to sold-out crowds and quite a bit of well-deserved "buzz" - pardon the expression. If COCAINE ANGEL is indicative of the work to come from Tully and crew, then I think he will be a name to look out for in the near future. The fate of the film's availability to the public is currently up in the air, as Tully and company participate in the usual business-end of things that is to be expected with a break-out film from an up-and-coming director. A great film and I wish the best of luck to all who brought it to fruition. 8.5/10

May as well be a docu-drama of the hollowed out life of a user

[Timtacular · 8/10 · 28 April 2012]

I watched this film on a recommendation for its gritty portrayal of a cocaine addict and the people met during the descent. As real a depiction of actual a. drug usage b. user habits c. desperate, unimaginable situations that HAPPEN and d. the mental pattern of someone who recognizes what they gave up to have it.

As is mentioned in most reviews, some scenes are heart-wrenching, some are of graphic drug use (as graphic as drug use gets), a lot are both. This is a sad movie and it's filled with sad, pathetic characters. All are acted to PERFECTION, including most of the bit parts. The lead is astonishingly good at being a cokehead and displays constantly the little things that change about one's speech and thoughts as they lose touch with reality. If you've known a cokehead, you will watch this movie and say "a-ha, I remember why I hated that guy".

With a tragic antihero on camera in every scene of the movie, this is a very personal affair and shows everything he might do in a day (including using the toilet, random, meaningless encounters, etc.). I've yet to see a movie that spent this few words expressing this much personality (or ruins of one, really).

I thought the ending was particularly good and fit the story well as far as it parallels real life stories, as what you see in the last few scenes is what you're expected to believe is the main character's final stage in life (and presumably, not a particularly long one, depending entirely on what you think this man will do when he wakes the following day, which on its own is reason enough to watch this movie).

While someone else mentioned recovering users might have trouble watching this film, it is NOT because of the graphic drug use, it IS because they will be steadily reminded of the consequences of their own past use, which sucks, but is about as good a booster shot for not-ever-doing-drugs-againism as one could ask for. Enjoy...

"Lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be"

[StevePulaski · 8/10 · 9 August 2014]

While it missed a golden opportunity to be called "Cocaingel," Michael Tully's directorial debut Cocaine Angel is a low-key, observant drama showing a couple days in the life of a helpless cocaine junkie, as he lumbers from friends' drug-infested lofts, to liquor stores, to the polluted streets to fulfill his accursed habit. The junkie is Scott (the film's writer Damian Lahey), who resides in Jacksonville, Florida, more concerned about where his next fix is going to come from rather than caring for his daughter or trying to find work. He barely has a couple bucks in his wallet, which are eventually spent on a liquor store's cheapest pint of whiskey, and, throughout the course of the film, whether it be through Tully's directorial aesthetics or through the character's speech and mannerisms, we begin to see the cocaine consumer our anti-hero and witness the demise of a character we questioned ever rose in the first place.

Tully chooses to capture Cocaine Angel in a gritty, ugly style, which is only germane to the subject matter all the more. The film is dark, often low-lit but not indistinguishable, and visually murky in its cinematography (done by the likes of Shawn Lewallen). Despite its visually ugly qualities, there is a beauty in the unabashed naturalism in the way the film is photographed, never ceasing to show the character and his addiction in the reprehensible light they both deserve to be shown in. The film's aesthetic is greatly reminiscent of a home movie, only this is a home movie virtually no one would want to reflect on.

Most importantly, however, is that Cocaine Angel gets details right above everything. It is the barrage of quiet, subtle little details, like the dirtiness of the cup Scott drinks out of, the dreadlocks and the unkempt look boasted by "Hurricane Mike" (Richard Dawson), the film's main drug dealer, and the conversations had between Scott, Hurricane Mike, and Mary (Kelly Forester), another "friend" of Scott's.

Tully holds nothing back in his focus of a loner drug dealer, and at just seventy-two minutes long, the thin but competently made Cocaine Angel races past, but not in a sense that it's in one ear and out the other. This is a film that, for some, will linger, like a high or a pint of Early Times, with its effect on a viewer ranging from a passing glance to one that will lurk in ones mind for days to come. Consider me the latter, as I now recall the famous lines of Johnny Cash, "lay off that whiskey and let that cocaine be."

Starring: Damian Lahey, Kelly Forester, and Richard Dawson. Directed by: Michael Tully.

hard to watch, but couldnt look away!

[scootiebootie · 10/10 · 19 December 2020]

Whew, a tough one. but i swear i couldnt get up, couldnt move.needed to see it thru. very scary, very realistic, very sad. definitely a good flick to show teens. if that doesnt teach you something, nothing will! recommend!