Because we all are addicted to something

Rating: 10/10 (12 February 2009)

I watched this movie after 9 years and it has in deed been overdue. I've heard many amazing things about it and perhaps this is partly why I enjoyed it that much; or maybe it's because it's really, really good. The plot is based on 4 lives of 4 people, lives that amalgamate with each other and complete each other. Harry and his friend Tyrone are drug addicts and basically best friends: Marion is Harry's girlfriend. Her family is wealthy, but her ambitions are much bigger: she doesn't want to lead the life she is supposed to lead. Sara is Harry's single mother, and her story is exactly the same, it ends the same, and the reasons behind her addiction are exactly the same as in her son's case. Sara is addicted to the past: when she is given a chance to be in a TV show, which has been her dream, she puts herself through hell and ultimately looses her own identity along with her mind. Even though she always has a smile on her face, she is alone and unhappy; and she sees a chance to change her life, and tell millions of viewers how proud she is of her own son - which seems to be the only thing she wants in life. And that longing is her true addiction: pills she begins taking are nothing but one step closer to achieving relief. Harry, on the other hand, carries a lot of guilt from the past he is unable to cope with: and even though he finds true love, he turns his back on it as soon as the option of his girlfriend sleeping with another man for money emerges. Ty is also addicted to the past: he cannot shake off the memories of his long-gone mother and the promises he had made still haunt him. Marion is addicted to her own independence, but when Harry disappears, the physical side of heroin addiction finds her and she is forced to do things she wouldn't think of doing 3 seasons before. The movie begins in summer, goes through fall and finally winter; spring never comes. There is no happy end of any kind: Sara seems to lost her mind and the only thing she remembers are the happy visions of her on stage with her beloved son, basking in the fake lights of reflectors. Ty gets into jail. Harry looses his hand and, even worse, Marion. She is shown literally clinging to the pack of drugs, falling asleep with a smile on her face. Disturbing images, shocking plot and depressing twists contrast with amazingly shot scenery: it is one of those movies you can freeze at any given time, print the scene and hang it on the wall. I believe this movie is an absolute must for anybody: especially for the young ones. Don't make no mistake. This movie WILL shock you. It will make you cry. It will make you discover feelings you never thought you had. It will make you feel alive.