The perfect anti-drugs film

Rating: 10/10 (30 March 2008)

I consider this movie the American version of Trainspotting without the happy ending. This film focuses on four characters, Harry, Marion, Ty and Harry's mother Sara. All four characters have a dream, Harry wants to make money so he and Marion can move out of Brooklyn and have a better life. Marion wants to become a fashion designer and own her own shop. Ty also wants to become someone big and ends up working with local gangsters. Sara has the chance to be on TV and just wants to look her best and loose weight to fit in her red dress.
Harry, Marion and Ty were already using heroin, whilst Sara became addicted to diet pills. In the summer Harry and Ty sold drugs for local gangsters and made a lot of money out of it. Harry and Marion becomes stronger and Ty raises through the ranks of the local gangster mob. When Sara finds out she was going to be TV she becomes the most popular woman in her building and the other women were only too willing to help. As the movie progresses the lives of all four characters breaks down and all their lives end up being destroyed. I felt the most sorry for Sara because it was not all her own fault like the others.
This film has some brilliant acting. All four performances were great, Jennifer Connelly has always been an actress I liked and this is her strongest performance; Jared Leto shows get potential as an actor in this film and Ellen Burstyn was really good in the film. Darren Aronofsky's direction was really key to the film. He got the mood just right, getting the best out his actors, getting a good mix of realism and surrealism, good casting and some brilliant shots and good music. He was from Brooklyn himself so knew the area and therefore got good locations. A shot really liked from the film was when Marion left her shrink's apartment and the camera focuses on her all the way to the outside of the building.
A word of warning about this film is that it is not for the faint-hearted, having some graphic scenes and this movie is a very depressing experience, don't expend an uplifting experience. You need to be in the right mood to watch this film, but it is well worth watching and it's message is very clear.