It doesn't take much imagination to realize that Requiem For A Dream, a movie about hardcore drug addicts, is probably going to be brutish, bleak and depressing.
It is. The film is also riveting and often brilliant. Just don't be misled by the casting of Marlon Wayans -- the funnyman who grossed us out this past summer in the hilarious spoof Scary Movie -- as one of the addicts. In Requiem, he provides no comic relief whatsoever. And none is wanted.
That said, with a stunning visual dynamic in play, American maverick Darren Aronofsky skillfully explores this world and creates a hypnotic portrait of extreme drug addiction and how the victims/victimizers make bad choices that affect their families, their friendships and their own chances for survival.
Wayans and Jared Leto, who are both superb and perfectly matched, play smack freaks and best friends who start dealing cocaine in their Coney Island neighbourhood.
They want the money to finance their crazy schemes for lasting success. The third party in their setup is Leto's new girlfriend (played by Jennifer Connelly in the best role of her stunted career). She is another addict and even more disconnected than the two young men.
Together in the blissful ignorance of their drug highs, each of the three shuts out the real world. The film takes us there. With his innovative camera techniques, Aronofsky gives us a visual equivalent of the rush, emphasizing the surreal nature of an addict's delusional state. This is not just cinematic trickery but as close to transcendence as a film can be.
Our 'happy' heroes cannot stay high forever, of course. Nor can they remain in a suspended state of grace. Reality is always there. Requiem is not a druggie recruiting film. Things will get ugly, especially because of the dangers of dealing.
There are other complications, such as the matter of Leto's mother (with Ellen Burstyn giving the film a stunning, poignant performance that recalls her glory days).
In her own way, Burstyn's character is as detached from common sense as her son. Caught up in the chance to appear on a TV game show, she goes on her own self-destructive, pill-popping binge to slim down and be more glamorous.
Her scenes of interacting with other elderly folk in her apartment building are as sad and wrenching as watching the three addicts try to cope with their chosen lot in life.
All of these people's lives will go from bad to worse. Precisely how is the meat and potatoes of the dramatic story.
Precisely why is the heart of a provocative, intelligent and profoundly moving film that emerges as The Basketball Diaries of a new generation.
(This film is rated R)
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