this one will get you

Rating: Null/10 (11 November 2000)

I'm not one who normally reads reviews for anything, let alone writing them, but after traveling 120 miles round trip to see this film because my small college town isn't showing it has driven me to comment. No pun intended. I was thoroughly impressed with the camera work and stylization in Aronofsky's PI, and was so again with REQUIEM FOR A DREAM, but the tones of the two movies could not be farther from each other, which was to be honest a rude awakening as this film progressed. In no way do I attempt to compare the two stories, as I would find difficult to do, however, I was shocked at the film I saw a few hours ago. I can't remember the last time I was this disturbed by a film. If you're looking for reasons not to let an addiction take hold of your life, then by all means, take a seat. I of course have not met Darren Aronofsky, but I pray he has not personally experienced the tribulations of addiction that he superbly conveys in his film. The fear of need, the anticipation of the next fix, the temporary comfort, the physical effects, the repetition, the mental fixations, the denial, the repetition, the disregard for one's self, the repetition, and the gradual breakdown that a person experiences hits you harder than the bad dream that is these character's lives. The images in my head after seeing this film will stop me from practicing ANYTHING in excess for a long, long time, and hopefully forever. As I mentioned earlier, the camera work grabbed me just as much as the performances of these actors, and the shots along side the editing and sequences of images brings the story so close to the thought patterns of the mind it's no wonder I was disturbed. This film thinks with you.