"Juice by Tappy"

Rating: 9/10 (12 September 2008)

Not a whole lot of movies these days get you to actually think.
Luckily, Requiem for a Dream is one of the few that require thinking and feeling.
This movie is not for the faint of heart or feeble-minded.
The movie tells the story of 4 people who have big dreams of happiness only to have them ruined by drug addictions. Sara Goldfarb, a TV-loving widow who is addicted to diet pills, her heroin-addict son Harry Goldfarb, his coke-addicted girlfriend, Marion Silver, and his drug-dealing friend, Tyrone Love.
You learn a lot about each character and begin to sympathize with their situation as they begin to spiral downward with their addictions.
Ellen Burstyn was excellent in The Exorcist, so I knew she would give a good performance as Sara Goldfarb. I had never seen Jared Leto in other movies, but he sure didn't disappoint here as Harry Goldfarb. Marlon Wayans is usually in bad, over-the-top comedies, so I was really surprised with his excellent performance as Tyrone Love. I personally do not care for Jennifer Connelly, she wasn't bad as Marion though, just wasn't great either. And Christopher McDonald was perfect as Tappy Tibbons, the icon of Sara's TV addiction, who runs a talk-show talking about how he managed to lose weight and gain his life back.
This movie wasn't perfect, but was still great. It claws into your senses and burrows in deep, making you really get the full-blast of what this movie is trying to tell you. This movie could be a weapon in fighting against the mass drug-use in this country.
9/10.