Raw, unflinching, and so realistic it's unbelievable.

Rating: 10/10 (20 September 2009)

Never has a film been made that captures the disease of addiction like this one. It will haunt you for days. And if you're an addict, it will haunt you for the rest of your life.
This film knows its subject. Knows what most of the world don't. Drugs are not the problem. They are a temporary cure, or maybe just a symptom of a devastating disease that manifests itself whether you're using or not. You can see it in the subtle behaviors of the characters that are brilliantly acted by the films four stars. You can see the sadness in Marlon Wayans's character as a child, long before he ever picked up his first drug. That scene with his mother is one of the most powerful aspects of this film, as it shows that addiction is a disease that is ever present long before the use of drugs becomes an issue. Reaffirming that no matter what you think, will power cannot save you.
The film is criticized for extensive cuts and repetitive images. But I know better. I'm a recovering addict, and not some, but all 12 step programs define insanity as this: doing THE SAME THING over and over and over again; expecting different results. The films ability to show this visually, constantly darkening with every repeat, is metaphoical genius.
Some may like the endings to the laughably unrealistic, Clean & Sober, or even the Basketball Diaries( which if you read Jim Carols second diary you'd know that his story didn't end that way). And like Requiem's sad conclusion, the truth is the ends are ALWAYS the same; jails, institutions, and death. Because if you pull any four addicts out into the spot light, there chances of recovery and survival are most likely a dream.