Speedway Junky (2001)

Synopsis: Running away from home to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional race car driver in North Carolina, naive young Johnny (Jesse Bradford) makes an ill-fated stop in Las Vegas, hoping to win a quick buck at the casinos. This bad plan turns out to be worse than Johnny ever imagined, when he gets... Running away from home to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional race car driver in North Carolina, naive young Johnny (Jesse Bradford) makes an ill-fated stop in Las Vegas, hoping to win a quick buck at the casinos. This bad plan turns out to be worse than Johnny ever imagined, when he gets a fast-track tour of the Vegas underbelly: in quick succession, he's robbed, propositioned by creeps, and beaten up. Penniless and depressed, Johnny meets Eric (Jordan Brower), a young gay boy who turns tricks to get by. Eric introduces Johnny to his posse of friends, who include Steve (Jonathan Taylor Thomas), a young bisexual who is also a hustler; and Veronica (Darryl Hannah), a former prostitute who used to be friends with Eric's deceased mother. At first, Johnny has trouble trusting his debauched new friends; however, as time passes, he and Eric build a relationship and become very close. Eric helps initiate Johnny into the world of heterosexual street hustling, and Veronica helps teach Johnny how to give a woman pleasure. But problems arise as Eric's feelings for Johnny develop into something Johnny can't reciprocate: love and sexual desire. The film was executive produced by Gus Van Sant, director of DRUGSTORE COWBOY and MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO, and Nikolas Perry definitely admires those films, aspiring to create here a similarly evocative sense of life on the dark, seamy side of youth. [More]