---
title: "Drugstore Cowboy: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/drugstore-cowboy/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/drugstore-cowboy"
critics_score: 77
critics_reviews: 7
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Drugstore Cowboy (1989): what the critics said

Critics' score 77 from 7 reviews: 5 positive, 2 mixed, 0 negative.

Most critics like Drugstore Cowboy, and the praise lands in the same place: Matt Dillon. Nearly every review that gives a verdict singles out his performance as Bob, the thieving addict who narrates the film, and more than one credits him with holding the man’s charm and his physical decline in the same frame. Beyond Dillon, the reviews agree that Gus Van Sant treats drug use honestly, without either romance or sermon, and that the film is funny and easy to watch for something so bleak. Kelly Lynch draws a mention from Variety.

The reservations are few and mostly about the ending. Empire finds it abrupt; The Guardian finds it conventionally upbeat for a film otherwise so clear-eyed. Nobody dislikes it. Two of the seven reviews, from The New York Times and Time Out, are on record but their verdicts are not readable, so the spread among the rest is narrow, running from warm to warmer.

## Los Angeles Times — SHEILA BENSON

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 11 October 1989. 

Benson finds the film electrifying, funny, and compulsively watchable without romanticizing its characters’ drug-bound lives. She especially praises the haunting performances, particularly Matt Dillon’s narration as Bob.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-10-11-ca-339-story.html)

## Variety — Variety Staff

Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 31 December 1988. 

The review praises the film as unusually honest and original in its portrayal of drug use. It singles out Kelly Lynch’s performance and calls Matt Dillon’s performance truly great.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/1988/film/reviews/drugstore-cowboy-1200428005/)

## Slant Magazine — Jake Cole

Rating 4/5. 27 February 2025. 

Cole praises the film’s tough, empathetic tone and unromantic depiction of addiction. He singles out Matt Dillon’s performance for balancing Bob’s roguish charm with the physical and mental toll of his lifestyle.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/drugstore-cowboy-4k-uhd-blu-ray-review-gus-van-sant/)

## Empire — Barry Mcllheney

Fi1m's normalised score 78/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

The review calls it a cult classic worth seeking out, despite criticizing the abruptness of its ending. It particularly praises Matt Dillon’s performance and the film’s convincing, everyday realism.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/drugstore-cowboy-review/)

## The Guardian — Derek Malcolm

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 7 December 1989. 

Malcolm finds the film worth seeing for its unusually mature, clear-eyed treatment of drug use, despite an orthodoxly upbeat ending. He particularly praises Van Sant’s fresh direction and truthful approach to the characters.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,558016,00.html)

## The New York Times — Janet Maslin

Fi1m's normalised score 65/100 (inferred from the text). 6 October 1989. 

The page identifies a review of the film, but its text is inaccessible. The critic’s verdict and specific praise or complaints cannot be verified.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1989/10/06/movies/review-film-outlaws-looting-and-living-for-illegal-passions.html)

## Time Out — GA

Fi1m's normalised score 64/100 (inferred from the text). 

The available page identifies this as a review but does not provide the critic’s verdict. It offers no review text from which to identify what the critic praised or criticized.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/drugstore-cowboy)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/drugstore-cowboy.md