From the misguided camp of Reefer Madness and The Trip to the harrowing reality of Christiane F and Trainspotting, filmmakers have long been fascinated with the downward spiral of drug addiction.
Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream is an earnest attempt to find sympathy for those who have lost their souls to the stranglehold of addiction.
Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto) is an aimless young man who seeks solace in the temporary liberation cocaine affords him.
When he runs out of money, he pawns his mother's TV.
It's a ritual. Harry pawns the TV to get his fix and the next day Sara (Ellen Burstyn) shuffles down to reclaim it. It's so easy to dismiss Harry as a miserable little leech who deserves what is about to befall him.
Movies such as Drugstore Cowboy asked audiences to feel sorry for the actions of their antiheroes simply because they were misguided and powerless. Requiem has much more convincing argument to consider.
Sara is a sweet, loving woman who is unbearably lonely since the death of her husband. She eases her misery with food and TV.
But when Sara receives world that she has been chosen to possibly be part of a game show audience, she is determined to lose 50 lbs.
Off she goes to a doctor whose specialty is diet pills.
The more the pills begin to curb Sara's appetite, the more she begins to abuse them. The horrors of her addiction are paralleled with those of Harry, his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) and Harry's best friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans).
Requiem for a Dream is not an easy film to endure -- and not just because of its unsettling subject matter.
Aronofsky is a young filmmaker with a mission. He wants to show just how creative he can be. He uses everything from split screens to hand-held cameras, and there are scenes in which his flashy technique completely overshadows the film's insights.
The acting is superb.
These are all tragic characters drawn with a brave, unerring honesty that is diminished by Aronofsky's juvenile showmanship.
(This film is rated R)
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