REQUIEM FOR A DREAM

A film review by Tom McLaughlin

After searching for God in mathematics in the indie hit Pi director Darren Aronofsky (soon to direct the next Batman film) returns with the film adaptation of Herbert Selby Jr. 1978 novel.

Requiem for a Dream interweaves the stories of four drug addicts - Harry (Jason Lareto); his mother, Sara (Ellen Burstyn); his girlfriend, Marion (Jennifer Connelly); and his buddy, Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) as they struggle to obtain the ultimate high, the American dream, through the quick payoff but high personal cost of drugs.

Aronofsky does an incredible job of pulling out great performances from his actors. Marlon Wayans gives such a great performance you may have to keep reminding yourself this is the same guy from Scary Movie. Jennifer Connelly also gives a great performance as Harry's girlfriend who dreams of opening her own clothes boutique but in the end succumbs to her addiction to heroin and becomes a burned out prostitute for the drug.

Aronofsky has created a very graphic and very realistic look at the quick slippery slope drugs can lead you down. He does a great job of presenting the rituals and habits of drug users but he never glorifies it, as the final scene of each character grotesquely shows. But like a kid with too many toys, or in this case a director who finally has a big budget, Aronofsky relies to heavy on unnecessary split screens, hand held cameras and over the top distortions. Instead of just shooting a scene straight and letting the actors play out a scene he feels compelled to throw in a camera trick, which in turn takes away from the impact of the actors performances.

This movie is an impressive showcase of some excellent talent but the story suffers because you know this is a car crash waiting to happen. Whenever you have a story about two strung out drug users who think they can sell the stuff and at the same time somehow escape into a better life, you know where it is going to end. Viewing this movie you basically hunker down and watch the horror and degradation these people go through as they hit the wall you knew was coming.

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