The best of 2000. Period.

Rating: Null/10 (14 June 2001)

You know Darren Aronofsky is a great director when you see his name above the title in large letters, and it's only his second picture (the first being the excellent Pi).
Requiem follows the tale of four people's journey into spiraling into addiction, whether it be food, cocaine, weight-loss pills, etc, etc. The message hear is clear: Addiction can come in any form, any shape or size. But the movie NEVER becomes preachy, and does not hesitate to show graphic images (if you are looking for lots and lots of nudity, you will sorely be disappointed) of the drug's effect, using what Aronofsky appropriately, 'Hip-Hop Montage', which is basically quick images and sounds thrown at the viewer, along with many fast-forward parts, during the drug scenes. All of this style really shouldn't work with the subject matter, and turn it into nothing but an MTV film (cough, The Cell, cough, Hallow Man, cough, cough) and is probably the first serious drama that used so many special effects shots (keep your eye out for the revolutionary 'Snorrie Cam', which is a camera attatched to a person's body part, like the head) but...the whole thing is successful.
Plot
Ellen Burstyn plays an overweight mother who just gets a call to be on a game show. Excited, she tries on her 'red dress', which doesn't fit, and ends up resorting to weight-reduction pills (which are really speed) and the red dress is her source of the addiction, she wants to get in the dress, but the pills have horrible consequences.
Then, there are three drug dealers (Jared Leto, Marlon Wayans, Jennifer Connelly) hoping to make it big on a sale. Their own paths change, for the very worst.
The plot's simple, the charcters are four-dimensional. In fact, all four actors probably give their best performances ever, and Burstyn actually deserved that oscar more than Julia Roberts - her character is the most human, and, like the whole cast, totally believable. Marlon, fresh off of Scary Movie, also shows that he is indeed a great actor.
The Bad?
The whole thing is very dark. Too dark for some. If you are a little squemish, or faint of heart, please avoid this film. You may think, "Hey, it's just a movie", but some people have been actually pretty disturbed by its dark nature (It was released to only a few theateres because Artisan knew the NC-17 would give it the flush. It should have been called "Requiem for a Nightmare".
Overall, if you find it at a store, pick it up (the DVD is especially great) and watch it with a high school student or by yourself or whatever (this is definitely not a date movie), just watch it. Better than Gladiator in my book.