![]() For my part, while I don't expect to watch this film very often in the future, I'm sure glad it'll be on the shelf. ![]() I'm not sure whether I'd necessarily recommend it or not it all depends on your personal tolerance level with regard to an unflinching portrayal of human nature and behavior at their most extreme and, ultimately, tragic. It is a punishing but unforgettable experience. Give it a chance, and you will connect with the characters and then witness their destruction (spiritual and otherwise). In sum, regardless of whether or not the subject matter itself shocks you, this movie will put the viewer through the proverbial wringer. The cinematography is beautifully conceived and executed, and the score is every bit as haunting as the performances (thanks largely to the work of the Kronos Quartet). That being said, overall the style of the film is impressive and appropriate. My only real quibbles with the movie have to do with certain instances of the split-screen and jump-cut techniques, which struck me as somewhat gimmicky and repetitious, respectively. Connelly has perhaps the most difficult role in the film, with opportunity and motivation galore to go over the top, and she delivers not a single false note throughout. The others are absolutely perfect as well I was simply astonished by Leto and especially Wayans (may he eschew "scary movies" forevermore). In particular, I was knocked out by Burstyn, who is almost comically pathetic in the beginning, but who manages by the end to convey her character's utter devastation in the truest, most heartbreaking manner imaginable. ![]() The performances of Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans are all revelatory. The subtleties of the text are communicated, first and foremost, by superb acting. Far from being the mere depiction of a collective downward spiral fueled by drugs, the movie is in fact a meditation on loneliness, greed, corruption, desperation, and the pervasiveness/banality of media, among many other things. To complain that the film fails as a realistic portrayal of addiction is, I think, to miss the point. Frankly, I avoided seeing it for a long time, but now am glad I did. I respect and admire this movie, even though (and perhaps because) it is complex, occasionally irritating and often very hard to take. ![]()
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