Makes you feel the ecstasy and agony of drug addiction

Rating: 10/10 (30 December 2003)

This film is an excellent portrayal of how dangerous and powerful drugs are. All of the characters are finely acted, but Ellen Burstyn and Jennifer Connelly are stand outs. Burstyn should have won the Oscar for Best Actress that year. What Connelly's character does towards the end of the film to get drugs is frighteningly realistic. One of the finest achievements of the film is its ability to get under the viewer's skin and make you feel what the characters are going through, both physically and emotionally. And perhaps most scary is the reminder that drug addiction can happen with legal drugs, as Ellen Burstyn's character demonstrates.
You may not usually feel sorry for drug addicts, but these characters force you to feel their desperation and their pain. Although images from the film may haunt you long afterwards, if those images prevent your own personal demise into drugs, this film is truly superb.