The operative word in Drugstore Cowboy is "drug".
Matt Dillon plays the leader of a group of dopeheads who wander around the country robbing pharmacies to feed their habits. Dillon's chums include doltish James Le Gros and teen-age junkie
Heather Graham; also along for the ride is Dillon's wife
Kelly Lynch. Their nemesis is cop
James Remar, whom Dillon takes perverse delight in humiliating. When one of the young addicts dies of an overdose, it promps Dillon to try to go straight, a task complicated by wife Lynch's determination to stay high and by the corrupting presence of an ex-priest, played by
Naked Lunch author William Burroughs. Drugstore Cowboy was director
Gus Van Sant's breakthrough picture. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide