HairKutt

The “scared straight” approach to drug prevention is effectively employed in Curtis Elliott and Ben Scholle's barebones documentary HairKutt, about a trio of St. Louis friends who took their mate, Bryant Johnson (an amateur barber nicknamed HairKutt), to an isolated cabin in Tennessee in 2002 to help him go “cold turkey” and overcome his 15-year addiction to heroin. Although the film includes a brief account of the economic decline of the inner city and general spread of the drug culture, as well as occasional statistical information about the difficulty of breaking the habit (and a few movie clips with characters trying to do so), most of HairKutt consists of chronological video footage taken in the cabin, interwoven with excerpts of later interviews as the men look back on the experience. Some of the scenes are harrowing—especially those of Johnson thrashing about in the throes of withdrawal—but a sense of repetitiveness inevitably and unfortunately sets in, and most of the conversational interludes are fairly bland (and rather poorly recorded). A not-entirely-hopeful epilogue brings the story up-to-date. DVD extras include an extended scene, as well as 55 minutes of grainy detox footage. A strong optional purchase. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)