REVIEW: Down to the Bone [2005]

Score: 8/10 | ★ ★ ★


Rating: R | Runtime: 104 minutes | Release Date: November 25th, 2005 (USA)
Studio: Laemmle/Zeller Films
Director(s): Debra Granik
Writer(s): Debra Granik & Richard Lieske

“What do you think about these tiles?”

I remember watching 15 Minutes back in 2001 and thinking Vera Farmiga‘s captivating foreigner played quite well off of Ed Burns and Robert De Niro. Sadly, until five years later with a spate of high profile films leading to the A-list status she now holds, I still never knew she was an American born in New Jersey. I therefore had no knowledge of independent film Down to the Bone despite it proving a Sundance-winning piece for both her and director Debra Granik amongst a slew of other nominations on the festival circuit and thus the true reason for her rapid ascent in Hollywood. Yes, there are many films dealing with drugs and addiction that mostly utilize stylistic artistry in their depiction of the kinetic/slomotion roller coasters associated with the habit. Few, however, allow themselves to delve into an addict’s upside-down world for an up-close-and-personal view. Requiem for a Dream melds the two schools; Trainspotting shows how style alone can excel; and even a film like Rachel Getting Married subtly infuses addiction’s blanket effect on one’s life. Granik’s debut goes for the vérité look, utilizing Farmiga’s performance to paint the depths we must plummet before even beginning to lift ourselves up.

It all started seven years previous with the short film Snake Feed, directed and cowritten by Granik. I haven’t seen that movie, but the inclusion of the titular reptile in Down to the Bone shows how the metaphor ported over into the feature version. Farmiga’s Irene has allowed the devil that is cocaine to overtake her entire existence. Working a dead-end job as a supermarket cashier, she comes home to two young boys and a husband trying to stop her habit by using their money to remodel the house—as well as buy pot. She therefore looks for any opportunity to hide and snort what she can. But the bottom comes quickly once the Halloween season brings her to the point of no drugs and no money to acquire more. After cutting her coke straw to lick whatever granules stuck to its inside, Irene knocks on her supplier’s door late at night after having been denied an ‘advance’ earlier. She brings her son’s birthday check. Kudos to the drug-dealer for refusing to let her become the type of person who hocks her child’s happiness for her own escape. All the kid wanted was a pet snake and she nixed the idea due to the costs of tanks and heat lamps before leaving the pet shop to score more powder while her sons waited in the car.

The whole endeavor of living with the drug controlling your every move is much like a snake’s dinner. Helpless to get up, the addiction pounces effortlessly before coiling itself around you, suffocating any attempts to stop it as your breathing slows and the quiet floods over. No matter how gentle the beast is by never biting its handler and pulling away when flesh is placed at its mouth, the snake will never pass up an opportunity for a kill. And that is why kicking the habit is so hard. Irene has tried and failed before, but this time is different. She can say she’s doing it for the kids, but it really is for herself. She is no longer able to live with the fact cocaine has been consistently placing first over all other aspects in her life. It’s time for a change that starts with rehab, even if only for a week due to not being able to spend more time off of work. Hugh Dillon’s Bob makes things easier, befriending her as both the male nurse on duty and a reformed addict himself. He lending his services as a helpful hand, but your own strength is all you can count on. When you cook Thanksgiving dinner for friends and family only to see a dealer at the door sell to one before watching them cut it on the table—with your husband Steve (Clint Jordan)—it can get to be too much.

Granik has an eye and feel for letting her actors run with the material and do their thing onscreen. Jordan is great as the caring husband with his own unsavory addictions—albeit tame in comparison to his wife. Dillon excels as the recovered junkie unable to stay sober once a woman enters his life to stimulate his libido—how can he enjoy her completely without taking a ride on the H-train again? But the film really does revolve around Farmiga’s portrayal of Irene. Granik shows her during the good times, bad, and all those ups and downs in-between. She’s an attractive woman with two well-behaved boys at home who know they are watching their mother disappear second by second. Each injection of a drug (whether coke, her boys’ happiness, or sexual arousal from Dillon) takes control of her body, inhabiting her every expression, movement, and sound. Even those blank stares and short temper with the litany of grocery customers resonates with complete authenticity because we’re watching her wither away. No matter how much love is at home, though, Steve won’t stop his own drug use. No matter how great life is with Bob, his ability to lie and watch her slip back can’t be forgotten. Irene can only survive if she wants to.

Obviously shot on the cheap and handheld, we see most of the action close-up. Down to the Bone becomes an edited together mix of moments full of emotion. Shots linger on faces of heartbreak and defeat until you believe these actors are caught up in this world, living day by day in the full knowledge that the next could be the one with no return. It becomes a question of what will make you stop. When will the stakes get too high to roll the dice one more time? Knowing that Granik used many locals from the Ozarks for her sophomore gem Winter’s Bone, I wouldn’t be surprised if the other Narcotics Anonymous members are in fact real addicts here. Their actions and mannerisms speak volumes to the crushing weight addiction inflicts and Farmiga and company squeeze right in as though they’ve been users their entire life while Granik merely films reality. This work may not give you easy answers—it may not even show whether Irene’s strides to survive and be a mother to her children work. What it does tell is one woman’s journey to hell and back, finding a glimpse of hope with kindred spirits and friends who understand exactly what it is she is going through. While the success of rehabilitation may be yours and yours alone, the path to that revelation doesn’t have to be a lonely road.


photography:
[1] Hugh Dillon as Bob and Vera Farmiga as Irene in Down to the Bone – 2005
[2] Irene (Vera Farmiga) with Ben (Jasper Daniels) in the bed in Down to the Bone – 2005
[3] Caridad ‘La Bruja’ De La Luz as Lucy and Vera Farmiga as Irene in Down to the Bone – 2005

3 Thoughts to “REVIEW: Down to the Bone [2005]”

  1. Jonathan Scheuer

    Jared, thanks, for this–I believe it’s the most extended examination Down To The Bone has received in several years. You’re guess regarding the NA scene cast is correct–they were recovering addicts who had chosen to re-enact an earlier stage of their recovery process, and the counselor, like the public defender, was performing her real-life role. In Winter’s Bone there’s a scene with a Army recruiter that was filmed using the same technique.
    –Jonathan Scheuer, executive producer of DTTB

  2. Jonathan,
    I appreciate the kind words, I’m glad to have finally caught the film. I did so due to an interview opportunity with Debra Granik today, which I just finished, and saw DTTB on Netflix Instant so had to watch last night. She actually talked about the Army recruiter and public defender too, and what they brought to the scenes, that authenticity.

    Great film, and thanks for reading –Jared

Leave a Reply to An interview with Debra Granik, writer/director of Winter’s Bone « jared mobarak’s film reviews blog Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.