Main Page |
Feature Reviews |
Video Reviews |
Alphabetical List |
=Excellent
=Very good =Average = Not worth it 
=BOMBThe Reel Deal rating:
Review by Rick Romancito
Strange, frightening and startlingly beautiful, director Darren Arnofsky's film about the mechanics of addiction has been hailed as one of the most remarkable motion pictures ever made. Still, it is definitely not for everyone as much of it is mired in such dark subject matter that you may feel like you need a dose of Disney or at least a hot shower to cut through the oppressive mood with which it leaves you.
From the director who whose last film was the unusual, "," comes another work of amazing innovation, this time based on Hubert Selby's 1968 novel which has been described as a pitch-black spiral into the abyss.
Harry Goldfarb (Jared Leto) and Marion Silver (Jennifer Connelly) are a couple with the same dreams any attractive young lovers might have, except in their case they happen to be heroin addicts. Harry's habit forces him to pawn his mother's TV set every time he needs some cash, but his mother, Sara (Ellen Burstyn), can't do without her TV so she keeps replacing it.
One day she receives a call from her favorite show, the surreal "Tappy Tibbons Show," and learns that she has been chosen to appear on an upcoming broadcast. When she can't fit into her best red dress, her doctor prescribes diet pills, to which she swiftly and painfully becomes addicted. Tyrone (Marlon Wayans), Harry's cohort, an intelligent hustler, completes the foursome.
With its unflinching portrayal of addiction,
Arnofsky's film is described as a psychologically disturbing,
visually captivating depiction of lost hope. Burstyn's performance
has been hailed as the most daring and perhaps finest role of
her life. Highly recommended.
Main Page |
Feature Reviews |
Video Reviews |
Alphabetical List |
