Close To the Bone, But Still Brutally Good

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2012)

I knew of this movie's existence when it was released in 2000, but I was only 13 then, and, since no one under 17 could see it, it took me a while to discover it. At the time of its release, I was fascinated by the fact that a movie could be unrated and released. Well, I'm 25 now, and I finally got it on Blu-Ray. To me, it was worth the 12 year wait. After seeing it, I saw a form of idiosyncrasy between that movie and my own life. The movie deals with four people spiraling in their own worlds of addiction. At the time of the film's release, I was witnessing my own mother's spiral across many addictions. So, maybe it was for the best that I wasn't able to see it in 2000. It likely would have been too much to bear. I digress, but for good reason. Anyway, I think that the passage of time lent to my appreciation of the movie. I knew I heard that soundtrack somewhere before I saw this movie, and it's always nice to know the source. The story is absolutely unrelenting, and I can say the same about Darren Aronofsky's directing. And there are the performances. Before this, I have never seen anything that contained either Jennifer Connolly ("A Beautiful Mind" is not exactly one I'm hurrying to see) or Jared Leto (though I do listen to his music with 30 Seconds To Mars). I only knew of Marlon Wayans from "The Wayans Bros." and "Scary Movie" (I'm sorry to say), and was surprised with his performance here. Obviously, Ellen Burstyn gives the prime performance here, and it's easy to see why she was an Oscar nominee for this. This story did hit very close to the bone to me. My mother's fate was similar to that of the character of Marion, which is why she is is a non-factor to me except as a warning. However, I'm still glad I saw it. It is a well done character study and deserves some form of discovery.