Hallucinatory and Unforgettable

Rating: Null/10 (16 June 2002)

My partner and I had watched this knowing it was going to be depressing. However, I didn't realize just how much of a "trip" that the director was going to put us through as well as the characters who were taking the drugs.
This is a film I loved because it stuck with me for days afterwards. The people who don't find any sympathy for the characters don't really understand what this film is about. Each of these characters had dreams, just like us. They really thought they had the way to achieve those dreams. Sadly, they had no one in their lives to tell them otherwise except those who were being hypocritical.
The heart-wrenching conversation where the son learns that his mother is on uppers and tries to convince her to quit is so sad. The junkie learning that his mother is on the same road and powerless to do anything about it.
I think the parts that really stuck in my mind are when the director seems to be accurately letting you feel what a drug trip feels like. Like when the mother suddenly sees her entire livingroom as a TV Show and the entire cast, crew and audience starts laughing at her. It was a hallucination that felt real..the kind you might have if you had a high fever.

In the end, I felt mom was a victim of the media..this idea that we all must be slim as a pretzel stick to be beautiful.
Just like the son and his friends fell victim of how you need to have money to be successful.
But when it all comes down to it, all these characters really needed was the love they had for each other. It's a movie of people who run at each other with open arms and constantly miss with disasterous results.
As much as I liked this film, it's definitely on my "watch once, never again" list with such films as Happiness and In the Bedroom.