Requiem For A Dream
Directed by: Darrin Aronofsky
Written by: Hubert Selby Jr., Darrin Aronofsky
Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Jared Leto, Christopher McDonald, Ellen Burstyn

Oh the pain of walking along the new release rack,seeing movies you saw in theaters and want to seeagain, seeing movies that went straight to video thatlook like a b-movie laugh riot, seeing videos that youthink you would really like but could be risky… whodeserves the 6 bucks today? Do I go with the reliableand tested “Best in Show”, the Olson twins’ “WinningLondon” or will it be “Quills”?

I chose the Olson twins movie. Then I put it back.”Quills”! I’ll get “Quills”! Then “Winning London”again. Another box caught my eye.

I took a look at the back of the box, which atRogers video tells you all the bad stuff that lil’kids like me should avoid. A warning, if you will.

"Orgies. Forced sexual acts. Extreme Drug Use.Directed by Darrin Aronofsky (Pi)"

We have ourselves a winner.

Having enjoyed Pi thoroughly, I made haste back tomy laboratory to explore this world of sex and drugs.It had been a while, not having seen “Traffic” or”Blow” yet I was ready to sink my teeth into somehardcore vein poppin good times. But it was not to be.”Requiem for a Dream” turned out to be a majordisappointment.

Jared Leto plays Harry Goldfarb, a televisionstealing junkie always in need of a fix. With him asalways is Marlon Wayans as Tyrone, and JenniferConnelly as some sort of eye candy or something. Moreimportantly there is Ellen Burstyn as Sara, Harry’smother, who spends her days watching bad gameshows onthe very TV set Leto steals and pawns over and over. Iactually liked the crappy gameshow, hosted byChristopher McDonald, or as he’s better known, goodol’ Shooter McGavin.

There are two stories going on simultaneously in”Requiem” – Leto and Friends pawn and tap, and pawnand pawn and tap. Drugs Drugs Drugs, Fix Fix Fix. Ithink you get my drift. Theres not much going on here.Its pretty typical stuff, the same sort of stuffyou’ve seen in EVERY drug movie. They can’t finddrugs, they blame each other for not being able tofind drugs. They find the drugs. They do the drugs.Yay. Edgy. Exciting. Yawn. Why not watch Trainspottingor even Gridlock’d instead? At least those films hadsome ideas and good dialogue. This part of the storyis shit. Just fast forward. Why?

Ellen FAWKIN’ Burstyn, thats why. She rules here.Her character of Sara is approached by her favegameshow to act as a contestant. She takes one ganderat a photo of her at Leto’s graduation (probably theonly moment where Leto seems truly important in thisfilm) and realizes he must lose weight to fit her oldred dress, which will undoubtedly make her feel realand wonderful again, unlike the poor ol mom of ajunkie she now is. She cant take the diet, so sheunknowingly starts taking uppers from a doctor, anddown goes the weight, and Sara goes crazy.

As you can tell, the characters all go through adownhill spiral, and a sour end is in store for all.Even with the bad drug story, this all seems prettydecent, right? Well in Burstyns case, the acting isthere. Everyone is is pretty “eh”, all talking insomber arthouse flush the toilet short lines, walkingthrough dream sequences on a pier, and being thesubject of very overdone speed-up and close-upeffects… Anorofsky’s style gelled well in “Pi”, butin this case it all seems really pretentious andannoying after the 5th or 6th time he employs thistechnique, almost like a pattern. Darrin somehow makeshis ‘edge’ boring, and thats not good. Especially notwith his talent. He needs some better content to workwith, and I’m sure he’ll put out a masterpiecesomeday.

I can’t find any faults with the soundtrackthough, there is nothing wrong with that choice. It’sall classical and it builds, and without it, theadmittedly incredible climax, showing just howdesperate everyone is, would be as limp as everythingelse in the movie. The rental price is justified withthe climax alone. Make sure you resist the urge toavert your eyes. This is one scene you will neverforget.

So I guess with all this I don’t really know whatto say about “Requiem”. It is definitely adisappointment, and I’d certainly hesitate to call ita good film. But on the other hand, I have beenthinking about it for over a week, all the time, andthere are moments still firmly implanted in my mindthat probably wont go away for a while. I guess thatmeans I recommend it, don’t you think? — The Pretentious Goon

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