This movie will scare ANY kid straight

Rating: 9/10 (21 January 2003)

*Spoilers*
"Requiem for a Dream" is a movie that, at first, may seem hard to understand (there were many things I was confused about when I first saw it), but it is nevertheless a very movie with a very powerful message. Just a warning: If you like happy, uplifting movies or movies with a nice ending, do not watch this. Though it is powerful and moving, it is also sad and depressing because it depicts the true reality of drug use.
Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) is the mother of Harry (Jared Leto), and she is addicted to food and a certain TV show. She receives a phone call saying she is going to be on this television show. Excited, she goes to her closet and pulls out the red dress she wore to Harry's graduation. Realizing it doesn't fit, she tries a diet from a book one of her friends gives her. When this doesn't work, she goes to a doctor who gives her diet pills.
Meanwhile, Harry, his girlfriend Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly), and his best friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) are distributing drugs to others in order to support their own drug habits. When their shipment runs out and they have no drugs for themselves, Harry and Tyrone drive to Florida to score a big deal. This leaves Marion so desperate that she turns to prostitution to score some drugs for herself.
As all this is happening, Sara's addiction to the diet pills is becoming stronger and stronger. The diet pills, in a way, have the same effect that the drugs do: they give her a temporary "high," but also cause her to have dangerous hallucinations (the refrigerator moving). It eventually becomes so intense that she has to be hospitalized.
The ending of this movie is one of the disturbing things I have ever seen. I'm not an extremely squeamish person, and I've witnessed relatively graphic material in other movies, but this was extremely difficult for me to watch (I almost fast-forwarded through the parts). It's one of those situations where you don't want to watch it, but it's so powerful and mesmerizing that you just can't take your eyes off the screen. I won't spoil it for you; it's something you have to see for yourself, but it's EXTREMELY DISTURBING.
An especially exceptional performance was given by Ellen Burstyn. I'm surprised she didn't win an Oscar. I believe this movie should be shown in every high school (elementary is too young, and junior high are not mature enough to understand it). The sooner kids are exposed to this while they are still impressionable, the less likely it is for them to use drugs in the future.
Now I'm not a parent or teacher preaching this, surprisingly enough, I'M A SENIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL. The sad reality is, there are kids in my school, and probably most high schools, that use drugs. If they had been shown this movie even their freshman year (I don't believe freshmen are too immature; some are, but I know some very intelligent ones), I bet about 90% of those kids would not touch drugs. Sadly, because of the graphic sexual content and drug use, both of which only serve to heighten the impact of this movie, many schools will probably not show this movie.
Overall, a chilling, but effective portrayal of the effects of drug use and how they ultimately lead to self-destruction. 9/10