Desperate Lives

Desperate Lives

1982 "Who's killing young kids with drugs and crime?"
Desperate Lives
Desperate Lives

Desperate Lives

5.6 | 1h36m | en | Drama

A brother and sister get caught up in the drug scene in their local high school, with tragic results.

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5.6 | 1h36m | en | Drama , TV Movie | More Info
Released: March. 03,1982 | Released Producted By: Lorimar Productions , Fellows-Keegan Company Country: Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

A brother and sister get caught up in the drug scene in their local high school, with tragic results.

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Cast

Diana Scarwid , Doug McKeon , Helen Hunt

Director

Hub Braden

Producted By

Lorimar Productions , Fellows-Keegan Company

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Reviews

reuger-1 The person who initially volunteered their comment obviously grew up in a catholic schoolyard full of nuns and sodomizing priests! For I witnessed this type of behavior firsthand! Although, I was a participant as well, I tell you this is exactly what happened in "mainstream" America as well as a smalltown where I grew up. The eighties were a confusing time to grow up. What with the Reagan Administration bringing the fear of all out global war and the way the VIOLENCE in America was shaping up, I TELL YOU IT IS A MIRACLE FROM "GOD" THAT THIS WORLD SURVIVED THE EIGHTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Praise "GOD" that we survived this long, but the sad part is that today in 2006 going on 2007, those same messed up folks are now running the country. You ought to be ashamed for even trying to belittle this movie. It said a lot for America at that time and today!
style-2 This was Diana's first movie after Mommie Dearest, and it was fairly brave, at the time, for a TV movie. Yes, it's a bit of a mess, but it certainly deals with a messy subject -- one that can be dealt with any number of ways. When the students at an assembly, and Diana Scarwid goes around to their lockers with a shopping cart, it is an absolute scream. When she finally confronts the students, she is foaming with righteous anger and chews up the scenery like no other actress before her. When they burn all the contraband and the students begin to add their own stashes to the bonfire, Scarwid is victorious. GREAT performance in a campy movie...
jennacea I watched this movie back when it first came out on cable I believe . And I loved it . I have since tried to find it to rent or even buy but I never find it. I could always remember Helen Hunt ( she made quite an impression) but always thought the brother was played by Christian Slater.I believe that this is a movie I could watch over and over and still enjoy it. The closing scene in the pep rally was so intense that for say 15 or 20 years it has stuck with me. I as a mother would actually like to get a copy to show to my own children. This movie reminds me of a time when movies had plots and weren't always raunchy with over rated sex scenes. Defiantly a movie to watch if you have teenagers. And as a teenager myself a few years back , who grew up in a small town , it wasn't all that unrealistic to see the drug use in small town America. And I believe today this movie would still have an extreme impact on teen viewers. Two thumbs way up and 10 stars .
Gangsteroctopus I cannot believe that one comment I just read for this one, that this piece of junk is "powerful" and "realistic" - WHAT?! This utterly awful TV movie is pure, 100% hokum. I went to high school in the '80s, when this thing came out and this TV movie seems to have been made on another planet by aliens who had absolutely no contact with real teenagers. I wish I'd seen this then - I could have used the laughs. But at least it's acquired a thick patina of camp value over the years, what with its beyond-earnest, totally out of touch plot and dialogue. This is the "Reefer Madness" of the '80s. Helen Hunt's PCP suicide/freakout is a pee-in-your-pants crack-up. (I don't suppose they'll be showing that clip when she's up for the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, should that ever happen.)