Sweet Jane (film)
| Sweet Jane | |
|---|---|
Sweet Jane DVD cover
|
|
| Directed by | Joe Gayton |
| Produced by |
Joel Soisson (executive) Michael Leahy (executive) |
| Written by | Joe Gayton |
| Starring |
Samantha Mathis Joseph Gordon-Levitt |
| Music by | Walter Werzowa |
| Cinematography | Greg Littlewood |
| Edited by | Jennifer Lane |
| Distributed by | Overseas FilmGroup |
|
Release date
|
February 1, 1998 |
|
Running time
|
83 minutes |
| Country |
 United States
|
| Language | English |
Sweet Jane is a 1998 drama about an unlikely friendship that develops between an HIV positive prostitute addicted to heroin and a terminally-ill fifteen-year-old boy. Sweet Jane was directed by Joe Gayton and stars Samantha Mathis as Jane and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tony. The film opened at the AFI Los Angeles Film Festival.
Jane is a junkie who works as a prostitute to pay for her addiction. Tony is a 15-year-old boy, dying of AIDS, living in a hospital to minimize the severity of his illness. Having overdosed on heroin in an alley, Jane ponders on whether she should have regrets if she dies or make apologies as paramedics try to save her. She decides "fuck it", no regrets, but that "feels like [she] should be thinking of someone". The paramedics revive her and take her to the hospital. When she wakes up, the attending doctor (Kimberly Scott) informs Jane she is HIV positive.
In the same hospital, Tony is being lectured by a therapist about starting a fire in the game room and hiding his medication. The therapist insists Tony take his meds, and it is revealed he has pneumonia. Tony storms off, asking what it matters, he will die anyway. Beginning to experience the symptoms of withdrawal, Jane leaves the hospital, passing by Tony's room. Tony sees her, instantly becomes infatuated, and follows her out into the streets. Jane eventually takes notice and tells Tony to stop following her. He does, apparently. Going to her usual dealer (Derek Webster), he refuses to sell to Jane, despite her pleas and attempts at trading drugs for sexual favors. She then goes to a dance club, where she begs the owner to let her dance behind glass for the customers. Tony follows her in, without her knowledge. At the end of her dance, she is horrified to find Tony watching her from behind one of the booths. She gets her money, leaves in a hurry and scores with a dealer in an alley. High and unaware of reality, Jane wanders the streets, Tony behind her, watching over her. The next morning, Jane wakes up in a dusty field, Tony sitting beside her. Preparing to leave and hoping Tony will stay away from her, Jane finds vomit on her shirt and knows it will be harder to attract johns that way.
In a local department store, Jane is shifting through a rack and Tony appears. She orders him to leave, so it will not attract attention when she steals the blouse, but before he moves away, she asks him what colour the shirt is, as she is colour blind. Annoyed, she shoves the blouse down the front of her pants but is caught by a floor manager. Tony distracts the security guard and manager by breaking a mirror and shouting, allowing both he and Jane to escape. Jane then begins to warm up to Tony. Over milkshakes, they talk about their families, Tony tells her his dad is gone and his mother drowned in a lake trying to save him. They then depart when Jane begins to itch for another fix. She tries to work at her usual corner, but her fellow prostitutes shoo her away because Dr. Gordon came around looking for her, informing them Jane has HIV. After a failed attempt at taking another hookers purse, Jane encounters another prostitute, who is willing to help her. She gives Jane an address for a hotel where a sleezy wanna-be director is filming a porno, but will pay $250 for her services. Jane goes, finds the motel room filled with 5 men who will be on camera with her, and is about to go through with it, but changes her mind as the men hold her down as the director shouts at her to struggle more. Desperate now, Jane decides to rob a convenience store with a toy gun, but the attempt fails. Tony comes out and helps her escape, but not before Jane takes the money from the register. She goes back to her dealer, but after a long moment of just looking at one another, Jane reconsidering and thinking about what Tony said to her, Jane leaves.
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