Unions Square is a good documentary of the homeless heroin addict, but does not provide a comprehensive picture of what it’s like to be addicted to opiates. Most are polysubstance abusers. Most are employed. Most have not completely burned their bridges with their families and society. I was looking for a documentary that showed a comprehensive picture of addiction rather than the bottom of the barrel. I also hoped to see some suburban and rural addicts. Union Square was good for what it was, but I was disappointed that the focus was so narrow.
Rating: 3 / 5

With the rash of documentaries popping up as of late, there have been next to no docs on drug addiction/drugs. The last good doc I recalll seeing was the HBO produced “Black Tar Heroin” from a few years ago. That doc was produced out of San Francisco/Bay Area and showed the notorious SF heroin scene in all its griny reality. “Union Square” is kinda like the NY counterpart to Black Tar Heroin. It focuses specifically on Union Square Park and a handful of homeless addicts who live there. It’s a very accurate and sad film that made even myself, a former heroin addict, cringe. some of the fixing scenes made me shut my eyes, maybe cringing at myself when that was me, but most of the shots are of bloddied, abcessed arms. It’s heavy stuff alright. As a former addict, who was homeless as well due to drug use, not only can I relate to this, but can give it an ironic stamp of authenticity. these are junkies lives…peroid. Of course this is not a doc for everyone’s tastes. Being able to relate is one thing, but many people are just fascinated with the down n out, especially heroin addicts. As much as it is glamorized, this is the PROOF that this ish is not glamorous in the least! There is only one character here is a DEALER and not a user, and approproiately he stays covered up in all his interviews. Besides being a very real and well made doc, it was shot all over the beautiful nd bustling Union Sq. neighborhood of an ever gentrifying Manhattan. When i was out there my drug copping zone was mostly Uptown and The Bronx…but this shows that no matter how gentrified downtown gets, no matter how many cops roam Union Sq Park kicking out homeless…junkies will always exist. It is a great irony but the Starbucks at tony Union Sq is the place where ALL the junkies are shown shooting up, well the bathroom actually, but for those in the know, a starbucks bathroom can come in handy!! As a former addict this hits very close to home, but can honestly say that it is one of the best documentaries on New york junkies I’ve seen. It’s sad, it’s real and director Mike Hatten did a top notch job of filming and interacting with these quintessential, Ny heroin addicts. that may sound like a glorified statement but all the people in “Union Sq” are people we could have known or even passed by in real life. i know next time i pass through the park, which is often, I’ll have to look for thses cats, see if all is well.
Rating: 4 / 5