4 Junkies and One Mad Fridge

Rating: Null/10 (7 June 2004)

A movie in my native Coney Island--that was enough of a reason for me to see this movie. I expected a moody, dark, sullen film and the "faded glory of Coney Island about 4 people searching for their vision of happiness" as the back of the box said. What I got was a 360 doing tumblesaults---highly stylized, almost comically absurd at times, and ultimately, just another movie about junkies, but with a bizarre directing style that got on my nerves midway through.
Harry Goldfarb is a twenty something living with his mother Sara in a small Coney Island apartment who has to pawn his mothers TV for money. He and his friend Tyrone (played by Marlon Wayans quite well in a rare dramatic role) already drug addicts, decide to sell some for a huge sum of money. Harry's girlfriend Marion, also an addict, serves as Harry's inspiration and encouragement for a better life together. Harry's mother Sara, a very lonely widow, who watches infomercials all day, gets a telemarketing call about being chosen to be on TV as a contestant. That potential opportunity serves as Sara's purpose for getting up in the morning, trying on her favorite red dress repeatedly and checking the mailbox incessantly. She begins taking diet pills prescribed by her doctor in order to lose weight. Soon the film showcases all 4 people suffering from their addictions and spiraling out of control.
Here are my numerous problems with the film. Jared Leto seems to be speaking in a comical John Travolta-Welcome Back Cotter accent obviously to accentuate his Brooklyn twang, which was silly, because Jennifer Connelly, actually from Brooklyn in real life, speaks nothing like the buffoonish Leto, who is from Louisiana in real life. That bothered me as a Brooklynite, who also does not talk like Kotter. As for the plot, there's nothing wrong with tackling a common plot theme---there are many different ways a common plot could be directed, but the way Darren Aronofsky tackled it was ridiculous. At times the movie resembled the style of 2 directors I like--PT Anderson in Magnolia, and David O. Russell in Three Kings. The way the dialogue moved and the constant references to what was on TV looked a lot like Magnolia, and the closeups of the heroin entering the body from the needle looked like that bullet penetrating the soldier's body in Three Kings. I thought that was kind of interesting and definitely different when I saw it in Three Kings, but here's the difference. It was done once or twice. Darren does it over and over in this and at one point I wanted to turn it off. It was also done when Sara was eating, complete with slurping sounds to show her coffee being drunk. I hated that! Many shots were done in a similar fast forward motion which were equally annoying.
But for what it's worth, the acting was OK save for Leto at times. Ellen Burstyn is eerily good as an aging, ignorant and delusional sad sack, as were Connelly and Wayans, whom I could not get out of my head as the Coolio character in Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, which was hilarious. The last 15 minutes are gut wrenching, particularly Sara's unravelling, which got under my skin. But overall, too stylized and trying too hard.
And what about that fridge? Thought I was watching Amityville Horror for a second!
Shame on you, Darren Aronofsky from Brooklyn!