Animals is a pretty depressing movie and I guess that’s appropriate since it’s a movie about two heroin addicts.  The script was written by David Dastmalchian, who also plays the role of Jude.  Reportedly, he based the script on his own experiences with drug addiction.  As a result, Animals is one of those movies that is full of believable details.  I’ve never used heroin and I don’t think I ever would.  However, even if there was a chance that I would touch heroin, Animals would probably change my mind.  It’s a seriously dark movie.

And don’t get me wrong — that’s a good thing.  If you’re going to make a movie about two people slowly killing themselves as a result of their drug addiction, the movie probably should be a bit on the dark side.  But, at the same time, that doesn’t necessarily make Animals a lot of fun to watch.

The film tells the story of Jude and his girlfriend, Bobbie (Kim Shaw).  They both come from upper middle class backgrounds, they’re both obviously well-educated (it’s suggested that Jude may have gone to medical school), and — even in the throes of drug addiction — they’re both still attractive enough that they can still blend in with “mainstream” society.  As we see, in a handful of flashbacks, they once owned a comfy apartment together.  Now, they live in a car that they park outside of the Chicago Zoo.  Jude and Bobbie spend most of their time trying to figure out how they’re going to make enough money to get their next fix.

And the best parts of the film are the parts that deal with Jude and Bobbie tricking unsuspecting people out of their money.  As tedious as Jude and Bobbie’s addiction-centered existence may sometimes be, it’s hard not to admire their determination.  Their schemes range from the simple to the complex.  They go to weddings and steal the gifts.  Pretending to be a high-priced online prostitute, Bobbie goes to men’s houses and, after grabbing their money, runs outside where Jude waits for her in a running car.  (Needless to say, none of the men are willing to risk the public shame of calling the police and admitting to how they met Bobbie in the first place.)  Probably their most impressive scheme involves tricking a mall security guard into splitting the reward money for finding a stolen laptop.  Jude and Bobbie are so good at cheating people that you do end up regretting that they couldn’t put their obviously intelligence to less self-destructive uses.

Eventually, of course, one of the two has an overdose and gets taken to the hospital.  For the first time, the two of them are separated and forced to realize just how destructive and co-dependent their relationship really is.  Will they stay apart and get clean or will true love (and heroin addiction) conquer all?

There’s a really harrowing scene in which Jude and Bobbie are harassed by some undercover cops who turns out to be just as brutal as the drug dealers that they claim to be fighting.  And both Shaw and Dastmalchian give good performances.  Even John Heard gets to play a character who isn’t a scheming and corrupt government official.  There’s a lot to admire about the film but, ultimately, it’s so dark and depressing that it’s difficult to recommend.  Unlike a film like Trainspotting, there’s not much going on underneath the grimy surface.  On the basis of their work here, I’ll watch anything else that Schiffli, Shaw, and Dastmalchian do but Animals is one of those films where one viewing is more than enough.