MovieChat Forums > Drugstore Cowboy (1989) Discussion > Why so few threads? (SPOILERS) OK, let'...

Why so few threads? (SPOILERS) OK, let's talk about the ending.

posted 20 years ago by BigElectricCat
20 replies | jump to latest

Warning, spoilers.

I loved this film, I saw it when it first came out and then a few subsequent times. Maybe I'll go hunt down a copy. In the early '90s, when it was bumping around the pay channels, it was advertised as some kind of drug addiction horror story. Maybe that was just PC-ness but that's not what the film was about! I actually found this film kind of life-affirming (oddly enough). I loved Bob's dialog with the drug counselor; something along the lines of how drugs negate all the petty things we go through in life (like having to tie your shoes).

I loved the character of Gentry, he could have been very one-dimensional, just a nasty cop. When Bob's is getting stomped, he's just staring at Gentry's tie. (a symbol of the establishment that he wants no part of?) I think Bob actually felt sympathy for Gentry and the role he was forced into as a cop. Also, Gentry genuinely liked Bob and was very upset when he found Bob shot.

Also, this film features the late, great William S. Burroughs as the junky priest! It gets extra points just for that! He had the best dialog: "I think some nurse is stepping on my methadone...."

My wife (who doesn't like these types of stories) did find this film very depressing and I had to take her to a chick flick to make up for it. (You wouldn't believe what she made me do to make up for taking her to "Last Exit to Brooklyn!")

Anyway, I can't believe there are only 4 threads here so let me start a new one:

What do you think was going to happen to Bob at the end of the movie? I thought that Bob had "paid his debt" and was going off to get high on all the pain killers the hospital would give him. My wife thought he was dying. I think the ending was obvious but my wife is pretty damned intelligent so maybe I missed something.

INRI: Initiate Nail Removal Immediately!

[–] Fullerov 20 years ago

I don't think Bob is dying, i think that by having been shot by David the hex that Nadine put on him has finally been lifted and he will be able to continue with his life.

[–] tricksofthetrade 20 years ago

I have the feeling that he didn't make it. The cop wanted a 'death bed statement' on who shot him. Gentry probably had seen many shootings and had gut feeling on Bob and his chances. I think he was shot in the stomach which gives him a 50/50 chance depending on how fast the ambulance arrived.

This is one of the best drug movies out there, better then Trainspotting in my opinion.

[–] Fullerov 20 years ago

But wouldn't he have been unconscious in the back of the ambulance?. As far as i can remember they seemed to preety much just leave him in the back without a paramedic. This would suggest to me that His gunshot wasn't likely to be fatal.

[–] happyspells 20 years ago

he payed off the debt (hex) by "going home" and going on the 21-days methadone thingy, not the gun shot. that's why he wasn't scared and thought he'd still alive.

When he said "i hope they can keep me alive" i thought he was alive coz i thought he meant after he recovered the gun shot wound. but if your guys think it's still a question at the end, well by the look of it, i think he DID survive. despite the hex being payed off and everything, he looked like he's in pretty good shape in the ambulance, didn't he?

UNLESS, the drugs that's supposed to save him in the pharmacy at the end meant that he broke his promise and the original hex became valid again and killed him. now there's a double irony. lol

[–] phosphorusD200 14 years ago

As far as i can remember they seemed to preety much just leave him in the back without a paramedic.

Watch it again, there is a paramedic with him in the back of the ambulance.

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[–] Kauwika 20 years ago

I think he went on living under the normal conditions of life - no labels on little bottles to tell him how he feels; no hexes to tell him what's going to happen; and no relief from the pressures of everyday life... except just to live it as it happens.

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[–] DevandDon 20 years ago

sorry all, bob died in the end according to the book.

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[–] thehorror 20 years ago

it does have a big burrousque element to it.

[–] edgegrip17th 20 years ago

I guess he died, because of the hat on the bed which portrays the hexes. Bob mentioned something about Hexes that will only last his life short or even death, even then the death of a Junkie is inevitable. This is a really good movie the cinematography for this film is wonderful

[–] ancil78 19 years ago

My guess as to what happens.

They get Bob back to the hospital. He is in stable condition, but in a ton of pain. Then doctor gives him IV morphine. He has been clean long enough to have no opiate tolerance, so that first hit is sweet bliss. As the morphine rushes though him all the appeal that drew him to opiates washes over him. He blocks out all the turmoil that goes with the habit, and falls in love for the first time again.

[–] radical2k1 19 years ago

here's my take...
apparently he dies in the book, that's sad, but the film's different

the hex had been paid off, in the form of david shooting him. i thought he died when he was shot, because david had said "kill him" etc. but because of the opening with him in an abulance i'd say he lived, so i knew my first instinct was wrong. he did talk to gentry, and never gave up david as the shooter, instead blaming the hat. interesting, and i love how gentry took the note, 'hat' on his pad and he pushes bob to tell him who the hat is. however, in the abulance, in both the opening and the end, i feel like whatever they had put him on put him in that state where, "life is beautiful" so he looks peaceful in the bed. his tolerenace was not down to nothing, so the drugs they gave him probably had little affect in the amounts they gave him. asking for more, in crucial pain, they gave him more and more and emaybe too much, maybe the gun killed him my guess, either way... he died in the hospital

"the irony was *beep* brilliant, the chicken *beep* cops were taking me to the phattest pharmacy in town. i was still alive. hoped they could keep me alive"... that's the kicker i think indicating he was hoping to stay alive, but didn't quite happen

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[–] truthwisdomunderstanding 19 years ago

A pain dose of morphine starts at 10mg and isnt enough to get high even with no tolerance.However,going from extreme pain to no pain is a relief in itself.I spent some time using for fun and also got a few shots for a kidney stone,and you need at least 3 times as much at once as they give you for pain to get a rush,and thats at no tolerance.
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oh no,not my Ben Hogans

[–] wollyeinz 16 years ago

nice post..those offtopic wife shenanigans made me LOL quite a bit.

For me i have 2 say it "felt" like he was dying ( sooner or later anyway...i guess most of us
gonna die at one point in their lifes (?!)..remembering those good old times and reflecting important
parts of his life - the whole atmosphere of those last few minutes mkes me think hes actually dying
very soon(..now)

By the way the guy who shot Bob is scary ..great acting IMO..delivers a reasonable psycho with not 2 much empathy left in his rotten soul.

[–] Racerg 16 years ago

I like Drugstore Cowboy a lot. I assume that he was going to die in that hospital too. Thanks very much for mentioning David,the guy who shot Bob.Finally. He's portrayed by Max Perlich. I love his performance as David. One of my favorite "David" scenes is the one in the Alley where he slaps the boy who won't pay for the drugs he took.

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