Requiem for a Dream

[NashVegas]

I finally watched it yesterday.

Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?

In a nutshell, I had the same problem with this as I did with Pi, Aranofsky's debut: willing suspension of disbelief. In Pi I lost it midway through when I was asked to believe the main character was not well-acquainted with Phi, let alone never tried using it, before the guy in the bar tipped him off.

In Reguiem, he had me going almost all the way to the end, when Jared Leto gets carted off to jail with an untreated arm. Especially when you consider how long it would take to go through the system to be assigned to a work team. I also had a problem with Bustyn's character being asked to sign off on her own EST. And the stuff with Connoly was just plain over the top.

Dazzling to look at though.

[mitchum]

1. It's a much better adaptation of Selby's work than the movie...

version of "Last Exit To Brooklyn" "RFAD" is very faithful to the novel which was intended to be a cautionary fable about addiction. The best way to appreciate RFAD is to remember that while it may be gritty, don't expect realism. Selby had a different purpose in mind (and I think Aranofsky delivers)

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. My problem with RFAD was

Other than some of the visual tricks, it was just an extreme version of any one of the hundreds of other "drugs are bad" films. I'll give Aranofsky this, though - I never before thought there would be a situation when I WOULDN'T want to see Jennifer Connelly naked.

[NashVegas]

3. Bwa-ha-ha

No kidding. When it got to that, I was reminded of having to watch 'Go Ask Alice' back in high school.

[FDRrocks]

4. great directing, so-so script

imo. I enjoyed the movie though, overall.