A Harrowing Look at Addiction

Rating: 8/10 (6 March 2015)

The war against drugs, of which we are fighting a losing battle, was effectively brought to the screen in 2000 in Traffic but the reason we are fighting this battle, the horrors of drug addiction itself and what it can bring you to, was the focus of another winner from 2000 called Requiem for a Dream, a bone-chilling look at the horror of drug addiction and the virus that the business behind it has become.
The film, brilliantly realized by director Darren Aronofsky, weaves together three stories about drug addiction that clearly demonstrate that addiction does not discriminate and that no matter how an addiction starts or for what alleged positive purpose was its genesis, once the line has been crossed from recreational use into addiction (and we never know when that line is actually crossed), we all begin the same swift, downward spiral into a quicksand of consequences that usually leads to one of three places: jails, institutions, or death.
The primary and most heartbreaking story revolves around a middle-aged woman named Sara Goldfarb, played by Ellen Burstyn, in a powerhouse performance that should have won her an Oscar, who begins taking diet pills so that she can fit into a particular dress that she wants to wear when she appears on her favorite television show, an event for which she has been planning for years, but has received no confirmation that it's actually going to happen. This story is particularly unsettling to watch because when we think of drug abuse we don't think about middle-aged women and we don't think about diet pills as being dangerous, but Sara's obsession to lose weight takes her to such a dark place that she starts hallucinating that her refrigerator is talking to her. Burstyn effortlessly imbues Sara with a sadness and confusion about what is happening to her that is positively haunting.
Jared Leto plays Sara's son, Harry, a recreational drug user who is so deeply steeped in his own addiction that he doesn't see what is happening to his mother and decides that he and his running partner (Marlon Wayans), should start selling drugs but really don't have a clue as to what they're doing, evidenced by their complete ignorance about the first rule of selling drugs: Don't get high on your own supply. Watching Harry and his buddy's downfall is so pathetic because we can see all the mistakes they are making even if they don't.
Jennifer Connelly turns in the performance of her career as Harry's girlfriend, Marian, whose casual use of drugs with Harry gets so out of control that Harry can't keep enough drugs around for her so she has to go elsewhere looking for them and doesn't care what she has to do to get that high she so desperately craves. Marian's addiction finds her taking prostitution to a dangerous place she never imagined, yet at the same time, not terribly concerned about how easy it is to get what she wants, using nothing more than her body.
Hubert Selby's screenplay, based on his own book, pulls no punches and offers no apologies for this twisted look at drug addiction that, to the uninitiated viewer might seem a little over-the-top, but for those who have ever dealt with addiction or love someone who has dealt with it, there are emotions and events and images presented here that have a basis in reality.
Aronofsky's bold directorial vision and some spectacular performances, especially Ellen Burstyn, make this film worth watching...it's not an easy watch, but there are rewards to be had here and it might actually make you think twice the next time someone offers to buy you a beer.