A Down the Rabbit Hole View of Drugs

Rating: 8/10 (17 October 2004)

Darren Aronofsky takes us through a worm hole into four lives on drugs and living its dangerous consequences. Much like the film "Blow" with Johnny Depp, this movie is intended to show the false illusions concerning drugs and how selling narcotics catches up with you sooner or later. Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto) is an indolent kid involved with heroin. He constantly troubles his mother in selling the household television to buy heroin. Harry's girlfriend, Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly) is a spoiled girl whose previous trouble with the law have her constantly checking in with a probation officer. What is surprising about "Requiem for a Dream" is that it attempts to completely show how drugs can devastate regardless of age or race. Harry's mother, Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn), in a desperate effort to lose weight, becomes addicted to "uppers." Tyrone Love (Marlan Wayans) is a young black man trying to making something for himself with drugs and gangs.
Aronofsky gives us mind-boggling effects with the young kids use of drugs and the repetitive "You've Got Juice" slogan that sadly represent the attention and happiness Sara Goldfarb pines over. But the trip from moderate to severe is a wild ride. Everything seems perfect, for a time. And then all four characters get jarred around like passengers on a roller-coaster ride. MULTIPLE SPOILERS BELOW- we see how Harry, Marion, Tyrone become their own best customers in the drug trade. We also see how Sara Goldfarb becomes paranoid as her obsession and pride with a contest drives her past sanity. And perhaps the toughest thing to bear and the saddest is the ending. A far cry from any happy ending you'll ever see, Harry and Marion's addiction soon consumes what love they have. Harry lets his girlfriend sleep with another man in order to score some drug money. Ignoring a growing infection, Harry loses an arm to heroin. Marion loses what little self respect she has as she continues to whore herself out in order to get heroin. Tyrone finds out gangs are a dead end and that "get rich quick" is better suited for fairy tales. Taking Harry to the hospital leaves Tyrone serving time in a racist prison. And in one of the more grim and bizarre conclusions, Sara Goldfarb becomes catatonic, becoming more alone than ever in her make-believe world.
The most basic way the describe the film is to say "it's a trip." One that picks up your marbles and tosses them around a bit (congratulations Aronofsky). I was surprised yet admired the way he showed the pretentiousness of Sara Goldfarb and her mundane friends. The degradation Marion allows her self to suffer is quite shocking in the end. The "You've Got Juice", Evil Refrigerator, and nervousness of Sara Goldfarb work together well to show her distancing connection to reality.
Some things I thought were taken a bit afar or were an exaggeration from reality. One was Harry's loss of his arm. Nobody bothers to do anything about his infected arm, some make wisecracks (the police, prison guards, a doctor). Also, I thought Sara Goldfarb's devolution to a vegetable was way overblown and totally incredible. I think Aronofsky was so determined to give all the characters such a grim ending that he couldn't resist getting carried away in this regard. But it is gratuitous as we could see the devastating effects Sara suffered and her loss of Harry to prison would have obvious effects on her. While certain aspects of the ending are a bit much, the film does succeed at giving you a bad taste in your mouth for drugs. Although it may be an apropos portrayal of some of the "potential" consequences of a life involved with drugs, this film sure is depressing! 7/10