Feature1989·102m·7.1

Drugstore Cowboy

Sooner or later, someone will pay the price.

DramaCrime

Portland, Oregon, 1971. Bob Hughes is the charismatic leader of a peculiar quartet, formed by his wife, Dianne, and another couple, Rick and Nadine, who skillfully steal from drugstores and hospital medicine cabinets in order to appease their insatiable need for drugs. But neither fun nor luck last forever.

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Cast

Matt Dillon

Bob

Kelly Lynch

Dianne

James Remar

Gentry

James Le Gros

Rick

Heather Graham

Nadine

Beah Richards

Drug Counselor

Grace Zabriskie

Bob's Mother

Max Perlich

David

William S. Burroughs

Tom the Priest

Eric Hull

Druggist

John Kelly

Cop

George Catalano

Trousinski

Janet Baumhover

Neighbor Lady

Ted D'Arms

Neighbor Man

Neal Thomas

Halamer

Stephen Rutledge

Hotel Manager

Robert Lee Pitchlynn

Hotel Clerk

Roger Hancock

Machinist

Michael Parker

Crying Boy

Ray Monge

Accomplice

Details

Status
Released
Original language
English
Languages
English
Budget
$2.5M
Revenue
$4.7M
Age rating
Quality
4K UHD · HDR10 · Dolby Vision
Production
Avenue Pictures

Crew

Director

Gus Van Sant

Writers

Gus Van Sant, Daniel Yost, James Fogle

David Brisbin

Production Design

Robert D. Yeoman

Director of Photography

Mary Bauer

Editor

Elliot Goldenthal

Original Music Composer

Curtiss Clayton

Editor

Gallery

Reviews

CinemaSerf

11/9/2025

7.0

I reckon this might be the best effort I’ve seen from Matt Dillon as his “Bob” leads a small group of drug addicts who have finessed the art of stealing prescription medication from pharmacies and hospitals alike before retreating to a motel room and an amiable haze of booze and sex. He’s accompanied on his adventures by his wife “Dianne” (Kelly Lynch) and his understudy “Rick” (James Le Gros) and his gal “Nadine” (Heather Graham) who is very, very, green. Of course, their antics have attracted the attention of law enforcement and wily detective “Gentry” (James Remar) is soon on their trail. Aware that they might be living on borrowed time, they flee their usual stomping grounds until a tragedy befalls the group and that has quite a profound effect on a “Bob” who may now be having his own Damascene moment. Is it all going to be too little, too late, though? Both the convincing Lynch and Dillon manage to imbue their roles with quite a degree of personality here; their characterisations are gritty and plausible and well supported by both the others and by a production design that offers us an uncomfortable glimpse into the lives of these (and potentially other) addicts. There’s plenty of pith from the dialogue and even though what they are doing is destructive and illegal, they still manage to illicit a degree of sympathy as things unfold in an almost pitiable fashion. It also takes quite a potent look at societal attitudes to addiction and ask questions about just what solutions we might suggest instead of incarceration and/or state imposed cold turkey.