FILMMAKER GETS THE SHOCKING DOPE ON 'SMALL TOWN ECSTASY'

"Small Town Ecstasy" (HBO). Tonight At 10.

A shocking documentary, "Small Town Ecstasy" is unrelievedly powerful and
upsetting. This latest in HBO's "America Undercover" series (tonight at 10)
merits four stars for the grittiest reasons.

Instead of uplifting you, this film will deeply unsettle you, rattle your
consciousness, and haunt you afterward. The documentary contains images of
drug abuse that would be unimaginable unless witnessed with your eyes and ears.

Arnold Shapiro, the filmmaker who defined the cautionary oeuvre with his
"Scared Straight" more than 20 years ago, produced "Small Town Ecstasy."

According to HBO, Shapiro originally intended to do a film about the
overall impact of ecstasy, popular but dangerous club drug. Along the way,
he discovered Scott, a 40-year-old father, at a rave (an underground
all-night party) in northern California. When he first appears on camera,
Scott asks, "Am I going to get in trouble for doing this?"

As the project progresses, Scott obviously has no problem with the
filmmakers intruding into the sordid details of his life. He is arrested.
He is also shown giving ecstasy to his two underage children. Scott should
be in a lot more trouble after this film airs.

We are introduced to Scott as he attends the rave with his son, Craig, a
shiftless 18-year-old who doesn't seem to do much of anything except smoke
pot and "roll" - the users' term for ecstasy use. Scott, divorced from
Craig's mom and shiftless himself, has become his son's drug buddy. Father
and son are not shy about getting high on camera.

A minister's son who married his high school sweetheart, Scott says he
never drank or used drugs until he hit 40. The man must have gone through a
whopper of a midlife crisis.

Even though Scott is a despicable character for the way he treats his
children and himself, he has a certain open charm. He's very talkative and
engaging. He proves the that anyone will do anything to be famous for 15
minutes, including push ecstasy on a 13-year-old boy as Scott does with his
youngest son.

Sheri, Scott's ex-wife, is also candid about her life and traumas with
Scott and her children. She is an appealing woman whose heart seems to be
in the right place. She is the rock in her kids' life.

Sheri, Scott and their four kids were once the wholesome American family.
They declare the apple pie truth, and you believe them.

What lingers after "Small Town Ecstasy" is the aching question about why
things went so horribly awry.