OK so the whole point was Nancy's Just Say No crap which didn't work any better than todays cigarettes is drugs crap that makes me want to smack the child with the snotty attitude that it's coming from. But my main two images are Helens swan dive and Tricia looking thru the steering wheel.. its SO prettttttyyyyyyyy... to this day still use that line with this movie's image in mind. I think of this movie often in life, partly for the guy in my HS who jumped out the second story classroom to spend his remaining days in a wheel chair, and "weeeeeeeee! " Down the side of the cliff... The rest of it is classic afterschoolspecial Cheesy drama class acting, shoot my middle schoolers drama performances are way better that those in this movie. . I still love this movie. Good try Nancy! It stuck with me, but didn't help me just say no...

The person who initially volunteered their comment obviously grew up in a catholic schoolyard full of nuns and sodomizing priests! For I witnessed this type of behavior firsthand! Although, I was a participant as well, I tell you this is exactly what happened in "mainstream" America as well as a smalltown where I grew up. The eighties were a confusing time to grow up. What with the Reagan Administration bringing the fear of all out global war and the way the VIOLENCE in America was shaping up, I TELL YOU IT IS A MIRACLE FROM "GOD" THAT THIS WORLD SURVIVED THE EIGHTIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Praise "GOD" that we survived this long, but the sad part is that today in 2006 going on 2007, those same messed up folks are now running the country. You ought to be ashamed for even trying to belittle this movie. It said a lot for America at that time and today!

This was Diana's first movie after Mommie Dearest, and it was fairly brave, at the time, for a TV movie. Yes, it's a bit of a mess, but it certainly deals with a messy subject -- one that can be dealt with any number of ways. When the students at an assembly, and Diana Scarwid goes around to their lockers with a shopping cart, it is an absolute scream. When she finally confronts the students, she is foaming with righteous anger and chews up the scenery like no other actress before her. When they burn all the contraband and the students begin to add their own stashes to the bonfire, Scarwid is victorious. GREAT performance in a campy movie...

Desperate Lives is one of the first movies my family every recorded on our VCR. I was 6 years old when this movie first came out, and I am not sure how old I was when I watched this movie for the first time, but I continued to ask if I could watch it again and again. I continued to watch this movie into my junior high and high school years. This movie dealt hard with the drug topic and was very relevant for the times. I no longer own a copy of this movie, but would love to see it again. I think it is a great movie where parents or teachers could talk to their kids about drug abuse and their effects and peer pressure.Because it has been so many years since I have seen this movie, I did not realize that the counselor was Helen Hunt, but I do remember that I was always very impressed by her character.