The Boost

The Boost
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Harold Becker
Produced by	Daniel H. Blatt
Written by	Ben Stein Darryl Ponicsan
Starring	James Woods Sean Young John Kapelos Steven Hill Kelle Kerr
Music by	Stanley Myers
Cinematography	Howard Atherton
Editing by	Maury Winetrobe
Distributed by	Orion Pictures
Release date(s)	December 28, 1988
Running time	95 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6 million
Box office	$784,990

The Boost is a 1988 drama film directed by Harold Becker. It stars James Woods, Sean Young, John Kapelos, Steven Hill, June Chandler and -- in her final role and first Hollywood film in 33 years -- Amanda Blake.

Plot

Lenny Brown is a real-estate hustler looking to strike it rich. He is married to Linda, a paralegal and amateur dancer. The two are poor in money but rich in love. Linda vows to stick with her husband until she "falls off the earth". He moves to California and goes to work for a prosperous businessman named Max Sherman, selling lucrative investments in tax shelters.

Everything is suddenly first-class for Lenny and his beautiful wife, Linda. But when the tax laws abruptly change, they find themselves $700,000 in debt.

They become increasingly desperate, made worse by the fact that a friend, Joel Miller, turns them on to cocaine for "a boost." Lenny and Linda both become addicted. They lose their home, car and jobs. Linda becomes pregnant, but falls and suffers a miscarriage after using cocaine.

Lenny's life unravels little by little as the drug habit gets the better of him. He gets straight temporarily for one last great business opportunity, but he can't pull it off. This culminates in Lenny severely beating Linda and putting her in the hospital.

Unlike most films about addiction, The Boost has a completely downbeat ending. As the credits roll, we see Lenny still using cocaine in his filthy apartment, reduced to a babbling shell of himself.

Cast

• James Woods as Lenny Brown
• Sean Young as Linda Brown
• John Kapelos as Joel Miller
• Steven Hill as Max Sherman
• Kelle Kerr as Rochelle
• John Rothman as Ned
• Amanda Blake as Barbara

Reaction

Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half of a possible four stars in a Dec. 28, 1988 Chicago Sun-Times review, calling the film "one of the most convincing and horrifying portraits of drug addiction I've ever seen." Leonard Maltin was not so kind, however, giving the movie only one-and-a-half of a possible four stars: "A misfire that's on the screen for 30 minutes before you even realize that it *is* anti-drug...As with Jack Nicholson in The Shining, it's hard to distinguish the 'before' Lenny from the 'after'."

Trivia

The film is perhaps most notable for the off-screen connection between its stars James Woods and Sean Young. After filming wrapped, Woods filed a lawsuit against Young, accusing her of sexual harassment. Young countersued claiming that Woods made the whole thing up. Both sides eventually settled out of court, but Young's career went to a deep decline and never fully recovered.

External links

• The Boost at the Internet Movie Database
• The Boost at Box Office Mojo