disappointment

Rating: Null/10 (5 December 2001)

**spoilers within***
I was disappointed in Requiem For a Dream.
Just because the movie is original and has some cool directional effects does not mean it should shamelessly be branded "genius". The user comment summary on the main "Requiem For a Dream" page says:
"Killer Performances by Ellen Burstyn...Darren Aronofsky, Stanley Kubrik has called for you to pull up a chair!"
I mean, please, Stanley Kubrick, apart from being dead, has definitely not said anything about pulling up a chair. To lump Darren Aronofsky & RFAD with the unrivalled genius of Kubrick & The Shining/Eyes Wide Shut/Paths of Glory/Barry Lyndon... need I go on... is an unpardonable sin. Anyway, allow me to continue.
The movie has to grip you on a deeper level than purely superficial which me, my bro & my mate all agree it does not.
That does not mean I don't agree with the movies message, that addiction leads to a downward spiral of destruction, I just thought the movie wasn't that gripping or as interesting as I had hoped. I also do not think this is a "drugs are bad" movie per se, the movie is just impartially illustrating a case scenario of addictions on various levels.
The movie loses momentum, and the continual intermissions of cocaine snorting, pot smoking and heroin injections disturb the flow of the movie after a while. By the end of the movie rather than be shocked at how appaling the situation has become, I was just glad the predictable and inevitable ending was over.
A word from the wizard: "there's more to a good movie than original directing and shock stories".
Overall i was left disappointed by the movie, expecting more from it. 5/10.