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Spun is the first film of director Jonas Åkerlund, the creator of the controversial (and banned in Canada) video for Prodigy's "Smack My Bitch Up." The story centres around Ross (played by Jason Schwartzman, who pulls a complete 180-degree turn from his character in Rushmore), a speed freak that becomes the driver for the local crystal meth chemist, The Cook (Mickey Rourke).
Åkerlund's past experience shooting rock videos serves him well as the rapid cutting, extreme close-ups and fantastic, mind-blowing animation heighten the viewer's sense of what it must be like to live in a constant blur. Much like speed itself, the film never lets up, hitting you upside the head with intense violence AND some pretty crazy humour, including Mickey Rourke's All American pussy speech and a great parody of Cops. Despite the laughs, however, you'll find yourself flinching more often than not. In the end, it's obvious that we all need to slow down eventually… some of us forever.
The film also boasts a great selection of cameos: Watch for Deborah Harry, Ron Jeremy, Rob Halford (running the porn shop), Eric Roberts and, on the TV in The Cook's hotel room, wrestling stars King Kong Bundy, The Iron Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher.
Note: This version is the complete director's cut, which will be edited down to an R rated edition for wide release in a few months. At the screening, Schwartzman revealed to the audience that he watched a lot of reptile nature videos to help capture the twitchiness of the character… but he did not do any "crystal method acting."
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