Meth Storm (2017)

Expected more

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

METH STORM was very well-received in its world premiere at Austin'S SXSW Film Festival. This is a powerful film about what addiction to this awful drug can do a family and a community - in this case, Faulkner County, Arkansas. The film makers spent a long time in the community and got to know some of the individuals well which allowed them to get remarkable and up close footage including film of people shooting up on meth. (This takes up well-beyond the romanticized and action-packed version of Meth seen on Breaking Bad.) While much of the blame for their bad choices can be placed on the individuals, it can also be blamed on the failures of government to provide these families jobs, educational opportunity, health care, and any sort of accessible drug treatment. The society has failed these families whose only real opportunity is the black market drug trade. The only governmental response is in law enforcement, but that seems to be utter and complete failure as well. The close-up view of the crisis is overwhelming. The mother tries to get her kids to quit drugs while failing to confront her own long-term addiction. The squalid conditions in which they live are heart-breaking. The ruined lives and the young kids that seem to have little more to look forward to are simply devastating to observe. The DEA agent attempts to arrest small-time dealers in hopes of breaking the drug ring and catching the Mexican source without seeming to realize that they are chasing shadows. They don't seem to realize that they can never win by prosecuting the demand side of the equation. This powerful film certainly raises more questions that it answers (much like the Michael Douglas film Traffic a generation ago). It has been picked up by HBO Films which should provide it with a well-deserved wider audience.

If you have ever been in or through Arkansas, you will identify with this documentary immediately. The people I ran into while there were just like these white trash semi literate criminals portrayed in the film. The Veronica lady was a disgusting mess of a mother, the children of Veronica are disgusting messes of humans. As you watch the film, try to look around at the absolute mess of a house or trailer each of them live in. No one has cleaned these places in years, they are all too busy shooting the meth into their veins. They constantly cry about having no jobs but I don't see any of them looking for work either. I had to laugh at the scene were the old hag was searching on her phone for the law enforcements 'Operation Ice Storm' and she had the audacity to call them idiots (as she licks her lips for the thousandth time and slurs her words and her son Danny tells her to shut up). Let's play a game here - 'Spot The Idiot In This Film'. What I learned from this docu was STAY OUT OF ARKANSAS AT ALL COSTS !!!So no one actually ends up feeling sorry for these horrible people, and watching them waste away with meth is not making me teary eyed. These jerks got what they wanted when they started doing meth in the first place.2 stars for the docu because it was about totally senseless inbred idiots walking around acting all smart about one thing - meth. Filming was good, editing was OK, how the director and crew could stand to be around these people is beyond me, I could actually smell the stink from these trailers through my TV.

"Meth Storm" (2017 release; 95 min.) is a documentary about the devastating effects of cheap and potent meth coming in from Mexico to overwhelm rural America. As the movie opens, we are reminded that meth production in the US has all but shut down, and that Mexican cartels were all too happy to fill in the gap. We then are in the midst of a high-speed car chase, as Arkansas DEA agents are on the heels of a drug dealer. Then we get to know a family in Van Buren County, AR, led by Veronica, now 43 and a meth addict. We witness her shooting up and it's not long before we get to know her two sons who are also addicts. Finally, we are introduced to Johnny, a local DEA guy who is part of Operation ICE Storm, a large effort to combat drug dealers. At this point we're 10 min, into the documentary.Couple of comments: this is the latest from documentarians Brent and Craig Renaud, who have tackled similar issues before ("Dope Sick Love", "Little Rock High: 50 Years Later"). The documentary picks up in 2014, when Operation ICE Storm develops, and covers the next 18-24 months. What we witness is hard to grasp and at times even hard to watch. Entire communities (mostly consisting of what one might call "white trash") seem engulfed in the meth storm. At one point Veronica's 26 yr. old son Teddy is released from yet another drug related stint in jail. They hug, drive home and immediately proceed to shooting up together, YES, right after his release! It blows the mind, and it made me cringe on more than one occasion. When Johnny (the DEA guy) reviews the list of people who are arrested at one point during Operation ICE Storm, he knows most of them personally, as he laments that he cannot stop the meth wave. At one point we get to know Teddy's 2 young daughters, I'm guessing 6 or 7 years old, and you can't help but feel very sorry for them. I just shook my head..."Meth Storm" premiered recently as part of HBO's documentary series, and I caught it the other day at HBO on Demand. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but as this played out, I couldn't help but feel strangely removed from all this. I mean, is this really part of America? I don't pretend to know how to solve this issue (or, say, the opioid crisis that is so widespread), and I fear it will only gets worse before it gets better. Meanwhile, "Meth Storm" is a brutally honest documentary that is at times hard to watch but a eye-opener on so many levels.

This gritty doc takes an unflinching view of the Meth addiction in central Arkansas. The opening scene of a violent car chase between an obvious addict and law enforcement officials is a good metaphor for the remainder of the movie: this is a horrific train wreck and try as you might, it's hard to look away. There are no winners here, no happy ending. But the film accurately portrays the problem from all sides. Users seem powerless to stop themselves or keep future generations from falling victim to the same evils. And drug enforcement agents have the best of intentions but are battling a ruthless enemy with limitless resources. I was confused by who's who in this film and could have used a few more titles along the way (e.g. "Teddy's third wife, Maria" or "2 months later...") And some of the editing erred on the slow side. But those are small potatoes next to the unfettered look inside the heart of a heart-breaking problem.