The Boost

James Woods and Sean Young were still "an item" when they costarred in The Boost. The stars play an investment broker and his girlfriend, who begin snorting cocaine on a recreational basis. Inevitably, the drug takes its toll, and soon Woods and Young have thrown away their lives in their desperate ...more

Although its profane tone and dialogue are very much of the 1980's, The Boost plays like the kind of ham-fisted message fare that came out during the 1950's. Darryl Ponicsan's fast-paced script hits all the requisite "rise and fall" beats the story needs but it moves so fast that a lot of the connective tissue between these beats feels like it is missing, resulting in plot leaps and changes in character that hit the viewer with all the subtlety of a flying mallet. It also has some ...more