Requiem For a Dream (2000)

 

Dang - this would have been perfect for my salute to addiction-themed movies back in 2011!

Synopsis: Confused older lady and her nitwit son, as well as the son’s troubled girlfriend and his streetwise straight-up G find out the hard way that drugs are bad, mkay? 

Blurb From the VHS Jacket: “Darren Aronofsky follows up his acclaimed π with this emotionally charged film set amidst the abandoned beaches and faded glory of Coney Island, Brooklyn.” 

What Did I Learn?: Holy shit, if I ever decide to become a heroin junkie, I’ll never inject into the same location more than once, and if I find myself addicted to diet pills, my very first action will be to unplug the refrigerator! 

You Might Like This Movie If: You believe your major appliances have minds of their own. 

Really?: 1) I had a bit of a hard time believing Sara (Ellen Burstyn in a magnificent performance) would actually watch, let alone wish to appear on the Tappy Tibbons show, considering his way of life revolves around giving up red meat and sugar, and it’s obvious that Sara likes to eat. 2) Wait - it’s obvious that Harry (Jared Leto) desperately needs medical attention for his arm, so how can the doctor on duty at the hospital fail to provide treatment? Wouldn’t that result in a huge lawsuit? And while it’s obvious that Harry and Tyrone are junkies, how can the local cops arrest them (and apparently send them to prison without trial) when the entire reason they’re travelling to Florida in the first place is that they don’t have any drugs? 3) Ok, Sara isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, and she’s obsessed with fitting into her red dress, but she’s also a grown woman without any history of substance abuse. Most normal people would stop taking the diet pills at the first sign of hallucinations. 4) Hmm… Sara and Harry have one confrontation over Sara’s drug habit somewhere in middle of the movie, and then they never speak to each other again. I was expecting more of a resolution. 

Rating: Requiem For a Dream is a depressing, but highly engrossing and stylishly-directed public service announcement on the evils of addictive drugs, including legal substances such as caffeine. The film features several fine performances (Burstyn thought this might have been her best work, and I’m inclined to agree with her), but none of the characters develop even the slightest self-realization, and the plot becomes so cluttered with strange contrivances (see: “Really?”) that it’s difficult to care about how it ends. 7/10 stars.  

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180093/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0