Sweet Jane

Samantha Mathis is generally credible as a haggard, streetwalking dope addict named Jane who learns she's HIV-positive following her latest drug overdose. While leaving the hospital, the young woman attracts a mopey, tag-a-long teenager named Tony (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), himself HIV-positive, and this rather unlikely duo stick together through thick and thin--including Jane's harrowing shot at going cold turkey--eventually finding some measure of salvation together. But the usual dreary drug-film clichés--pushers, prostitution, puking, etc.--are tediously off-putting as rendered by veteran screenwriter Joe Gayton (Uncommon Valor, Bulletproof) in his directorial debut, and cannot compete with more cutting edge fare such as Darren Aronofsky's harrowing drug odyssey Requiem for a Dream. Not recommended. (T. Rich)