This is NOT a simple "Anti-Drug Movie"

Rating: 10/10 (27 March 2002)

I was going to refrain from posting my comments on this movie, as nothing I could say would ever do it justice, but since such a large number of you seem to have missed the point entirely, I guess I have no choice.
Requiem for a Dream is not an "anti-drug movie" as so many people seem to believe. Requiem transcends this and its message is FAR more complex then the simple (and redundant) "drugs are bad." This movie is about life and about addiction (and not just drug addiction, as other forms of addiction, such as food, television, popularity, etc., are also dealt with, and are all treated the same way as the standard drug addiction...you'll see it when you watch the movie, through clever camera work, the director draws a fairly obvious parallel between drug addiction and food addiction).
But enough about what the movie is not...Requiem for a Dream is a powerful and moving piece which examines human life and chronicles how addiction (in any form) tends to walk hand in hand with self-destruction...but instead of trying to make the case that "addiction is bad," Requiem instead pushes the idea that addiction is an inevitable part of life (hence the inclusion of the seasons "Summer," "Fall," and "Winter," which are metaphors for various stages of life...if you want to treat Requiem as a simple anti-drug movie, then you have to totally ignore this fact...), and thus so is self-destruction, and this is what helps to make the movie so powerful, the realization that from day one, the characters were doomed no matter what they had done.
I would recommend this movie to anyone who values gaining insight into their own lives, and I feel that this is one of those few movies that EVERYONE should see, it's just that good. There's no way to describe how I felt after witnessing the movie's stunning conclusion other than...well...stunned. Requiem for a Dream is FAR more than a simple anti-drug piece, and a definate must-see for anyone...