Lenny and Linda Brown move to California to find their fortune in tax shelter investments. When the federal government changes the tax laws, poor Lenny finds himself $700,000 in hock with nowhere to turn. His friend, Joel, introduces him to cocaine to give Lenny that needed “boost”. What ensues next is a descent into drug addiction and insanity as Lenny tries to regain control of his life, all the while needing that extra “boost”. —IMDb
Harold Becker (born September 25, 1928) is American film director and producer from New York.
Biography
After studying art and photography at the Pratt Institute, Becker began his career as a still photographer, but later tried his hand at directing television commercials, short films and documentaries. Becker made his film debut in 1972 when he directed The Ragman’s Daughter along with Souter Harris. After this film, he went on to other films, including thrillers where ordinary people are caught up in danger and the unexpected. Of these, the one he is applauded for is his 1979 true story film, The Onion Field.
Becker won the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival Gold Prize for his short film Ivanhoe Donaldson. —Wikipedia
james woods' convincing performance as a drug addict is all that is good about this lackluster picture
Nothing like a coke-fuelled, raging James Woods to depict the horrors of addiction and the vacuum excess eventually brings those desperately flapping their failing Icarus wings to reach the sunlight of success. Although maybe not as intense as Reqiuem For a Dream twelve years later, it still serves as a great tragedy.