More than drugs here......

Rating: 10/10 (16 July 2005)

So many people who have reviewed this movie have premised their review on the assumption that this movie is simply about drug addiction and the depths to which it will drive seemingly decent people. Am I the only person who sees more than a depiction of drug addiction here? Am I the only person who sees this movie as a complex montage, portraying the incredible sadness being old and lonely, and having no real friends? Am I the only person who sees this movie as being about love, both experienced and lost, because the characters who were in love with each other danced to the tune of the commercial world in which we all live; a world in which advertisements for juice and diets without red meat are sold as the panacea that will lead to ultimate happiness? Am I the only person who sees this movie as being about the loss of innocence, as a person who so badly wanted to start her own dress-design business, like the other characters, does not understand that dreams cannot be realized without hard work? Am I the only person who sees this movie as being about the commercialism of all that we hold dear? What, after all, is the first drug to which the audience is introduced -- a drug that the average moviegoer consumes over a period of several hours every day? We see an old woman addicted to TV -- the irony, of course, is that she pays for this drug almost every day by repurchasing her TV set from a pawnbroker in order to feed her own habit, even as her son steals the TV set every day in order to sell it to the pawnbroker to feed his habit. Is this not ironic? Does this not set the tone for everything that follows? Four characters live on the incoming tide of summer, happy in the belief that they will soon realize their dreams: Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn, who was robbed, criminally, of an Oscar), old and lonely, receives a telephone call informing her that she will appear on her favorite TV show, from which she simply cannot tear herself away. Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto), her son, does all that a penitent son can think of doing for his mother -- which is to buy her a new TV set. An addiction is fed right there, **by Harry*, even as Harry realizes, with true horror, that his mother is on amphetamines prescribed by a script doctor to make her lose weight. Sara is obsessed with fitting into her red dress, and dreams at night of cupcakes and doughnuts before the uppers kick in. Another addiction is stated, yet not emphasized, in this sequence. Am I the only person to see how Sara is already addicted to two drugs -- TV and food -- as she struggles with loneliness and depression? During summer, all appears to be going well for the four central characters. But like all false dreams, these four characters (Sara, Harry, Jennifer, and Marlon) are fooling themselves. Harry and Marlon dream of becoming drug distributors so that they can retire, and Harry euphemistically describes himself as a "distributor" to his mother, even as he realizes, with true horror, that she is on speed. Jennifer (Marion Silver) has genuine talent as a designer, yet falls into the trap of experimenting with both cocaine and heroin -- which, perversely, intensifies the love she feels for Harry. But once again, commercialism is the target here -- quite literally, they find a quick fix to shore up their relationship. The hard work that is necessary to sustain a relationship is never performed.
Then fall is upon them. Harry has increasing difficulty finding the drug, and before she even realizes exactly what she is doing, Jennifer sells her body to her therapist. The viewer can actually feel the disgust and shuddering revulsion that Jennifer feels as she leaves in the elevator and then hurries down the sidewalk -- it is like oil that she cannot wipe from her skin.
Then winter comes. From this point, all is downhill. Sara discovers that the initial feelings of euphoria induced by the drugs have given way to a deadening of emotion -- and she doubles the dose. Harry and his friend and fellow "distributor" (now full-time user) Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) are arrested and thrown into prison. Harry loses an arm due to gangrene from repeatedly shooting up into the same crater. Jennifer is trapped in a stomach-turning lesbian orgy as she sinks lower and lower in her quest for drugs. Harry knows that Jennifer cannot and will not visit him in the hospital, since she is so strung out that she cannot even think about Harry.
Sara becomes totally unhinged, and goes mad. She is portrayed as a horrifying hag staggering down the street and catching a subway to the TV station office, wondering what has happened to her TV appearance. She is hospitalized, in in a horrifying series of searing images, we see her being force-fed with a tube down her throat, being subjected to shock treatment, and becoming unrecognizable to two of her friends, who leave the hospital to cry in each other's arms.
There is so much more to this movie than a message about drugs. What of commercialism -- the belief that our lives can be made better simply by latching onto the latest fad diet, or by buying the latest self-help book? What of TV itself, which we watch every day, and which has replaced living for so many people? What of mindless personality shows? What of living without actually **living**? The final 20 minutes of this movie are so shocking and brutal that I would not recommend that any person who is faint of heart watch this movie. One can actually sympathize with the drug addicts -- they become real people, and the viewer feels their suffering and understands their suffering.