Lindstrom follows several mentors such as David Fitzgerald,
Jill Kahnert and Randy Sorvisto, themselves still in recovery and
paying it forward to help in the cause. They rely on their own hazy
histories of longtime substance abuse and streetwise savvy to help
understand what their cold-turkey subjects are experiencing. The
druggies have all done jail time along the way (Stephen, 45, has been a
crackhead for 27 years; Peni, a scrawny, dentally challenged, 40-ish
redhead, started shooting heroin at age 13), and it’s a disappointing
certainty that some will wash out of the program as they return to
“using.” Yet there’s plenty of emotional uplift regarding the
dedication of the 12-step mentors, with tough talk aplenty to keep the
damaged souls in line; sometimes Lindstrom’s camera is so in your face
that it hurts. Lindstrom also finds room for neat vignettes like
Kahnert watching her daughter graduate from high school and Fitzgerald
(who resembles a tattooed Dennis Weaver) citing a jailhouse horror
story as a turning point, as well as his own moment of clarity
regarding his 13-year-old daughter: “All she had was a dope-fiend dad
who wasn’t worth a shit, and she deserved more than that.” Center for the Arts, Saturday, May 3, 11:30 a.m.
Jill Kahnert and Randy Sorvisto, themselves still in recovery and
paying it forward to help in the cause. They rely on their own hazy
histories of longtime substance abuse and streetwise savvy to help
understand what their cold-turkey subjects are experiencing. The
druggies have all done jail time along the way (Stephen, 45, has been a
crackhead for 27 years; Peni, a scrawny, dentally challenged, 40-ish
redhead, started shooting heroin at age 13), and it’s a disappointing
certainty that some will wash out of the program as they return to
“using.” Yet there’s plenty of emotional uplift regarding the
dedication of the 12-step mentors, with tough talk aplenty to keep the
damaged souls in line; sometimes Lindstrom’s camera is so in your face
that it hurts. Lindstrom also finds room for neat vignettes like
Kahnert watching her daughter graduate from high school and Fitzgerald
(who resembles a tattooed Dennis Weaver) citing a jailhouse horror
story as a turning point, as well as his own moment of clarity
regarding his 13-year-old daughter: “All she had was a dope-fiend dad
who wasn’t worth a shit, and she deserved more than that.” Center for the Arts, Saturday, May 3, 11:30 a.m.
