Not overrated, but for the completely wrong reasons.

Rating: 7/10 (23 April 2009)

*Spoilers Ahead*
Aside from the chemistry between Harry and Marion; the movie doesn't get good until about 43 minutes in. I.E, you see Marlon Wayans ass naked which is worse than watching execution videos.
It really portrays an intimate relationship between two drug addicts very well; something I loathe; because the happiness felt in these types of relationships are never authentic.
The drug seeking behavior scenes could have been portrayed much better; a better example would be the basketball diaries. Watching a person drug seek (especially for things like speed) is absolutely repulsive and pathetic.
Another thing I like about the movie, though it had no place in the movie itself as it seemed off key; was the fact that they put speeders on par with the "harder drugs" which is so true; but yet people are eluded from the truth of this; the power of a drug resides solely on the person and not the drug itself; think about it, it makes perfect sense doesn't it? In a culture ran by fear is it any wonder why Benzos are slowly but surely earning the reputation as the most nightmarish withdrawal of them all? As much as I hate to use the word corporate elite; it's somewhat true in respect to drugs and their power. But when you free yourself from this retardation of fear and drown yourself in the truth you soon come to realize that it's YOU who dictates the power of a drug, and as outlandish as this may sound; I would wager that caffeine can be a more powerful drug than ice if the circumstances are correct. Smiley TL;DR, You choose your own poison, and you suffer the consequence of it, this movie portrays this well.
The reason I believe this movie deserves it's reputation is because it was made in 2000, in an age where a lot of people were blinded and eluded from these things; sad thing is; they learned about them in the completely WRONG way. Which is even worse.
The music is very good but very terrible at the same time; It doesn't fit the movie well at all. The music represents how an audience would view drug addicts and not the actual struggle itself. It's completely off touch. It literally sounds like music that would be played during some grotesque war between good and evil.
Like every other movie that takes itself to seriously, this is just a movie and it is far from reality; if there were a movie that truly represented the spiraling life of drug addicts it would not be something people would want to see. Because in the end people don't want to see bad things; they want to see things that make them feel better about themselves by comparing themselves to exaggerations and false representations of real life things.
Only a fool would be touched by a film like this; saying words like "powerful." when they should be saying things like "I don't think i want to do drugs anymore."
Besides; after about 1:20 mark the movie just becomes pointless like I previous mention; completely treads from the true reality.
The main problem I have with this movie; is that it doesn't seem to have a down hill snowball effect to it; these kids seem to start off at rock bottom and stay there.
The Basketball diaries is MUCH closer to the TRUTH.
In conclusion - Overrated fantasy with a bad taste of directing gimmicks and unfitting music. 7/10