Trapped in a Purple Haze

Trapped in a Purple Haze is a TV movie about drug abuse which originally aired on ABC in 2000; its title is a reference to the Jimi Hendrix song "Purple Haze". The film starred Jonathan Jackson, JoBeth Williams, and Carly Pope, with a supporting role by Hayden Christensen (who eventually beat Jackson for the part of Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequel trilogy). Plot Chicago college student Max Hanson (Jackson) is a talented artist and hockey player. Though more interested in the latter, he is under pressure from his mother, Sophie (Williams) to pursue a career in art, influenced by the fact that she put her own career aside to raise the family and has just landed a coveted position with a local art gallery. Max's father, Ed (Colm Feore), is a tax attorney with a more laid-back approach to his son's future, just wanting him to be happy. While working at the local video store with best friends Orin (Christensen) and Kate (Amy Stewart), a cute girl comes in with her friends seeking a copy of Arachnophobia, and Max is immediately smitten. After locating her on campus the next day, she introduces herself as Molly White (Pope), who already knows Max's name from his hockey jersey. She then gives Max her phone number and invites him to a party she's attending that night. Before long, Max and Molly are becoming an item, the two even managing to make love in his bedroom with his mother and younger sister Chloe in the house. However, Max soon finds out that Molly is a drug addict, as he accompanies her on a trek to score some heroin, which she promptly snorts. Max invites Molly to Chloe's birthday party, and though she initially refuses to attend because it's the same night as a Smashing Pumpkins concert, she later relents. However, a minor argument erupts between her and Sophie, resulting in Molly leaving abruptly and putting the brakes on their budding relationship. Devastated, Max does his best to move on, but has a hard time doing so. Finally, he's taken to a party one night by Orin and Kate, where he promptly spots Molly. She asks if they can go somewhere and talk; he accepts, she apologizes, and the two make up.