Intense love story centered on two star-crossed junkies delivers a harrowing and intimate account of heroin addiction, coupled with the association of romantic bliss, to form a bittersweet narrative that can't quite reconcile all thematic intent. From a novel, director Neil Armfield smartly divides the tormented affair into three appropriate acts, each with their own specific relation to the addict's current mentality, and although the script is wonderfully conceived and gracefully plotted, the slightly illogical climax and unfulfilled resolution seemed to undermine so much of a viable integrity found in these powerfully conceived characters. Although the ending was justifiably bittersweet and full of noble intent, a majority of the film spends so much time involving viewers in the realistically engaging performances that one can't help but feel psychologically shortchanged when an erratic and under-explained change in behavior yields the near fruitless finish.
The Australian production gets by with it's admirably impressive portrait into the lives of truly addicted people, though it is the fierce dedication from our leads that will give Candy it's eventual indie longevity. Heath Ledger has never been better, coming from a more natural place then anything else, in a role that seems tailor-made for him to play. Opposite, Abbie Cornish absolutely holds her own as the good girl gone wrong in a noteworthy performance that has already helped gain her a slightly larger reputation in the states. Unfortunately, pronouncement of the great Geoffrey Rush as third-billed is merely a marketing ploy, as he delivers more a glorified cameo then anything else...everyone does since screen time is consumed with this couple's intriguingly warped embrace.
A bit overwrought at times (though circumstance would certainly demand that to a degree) Candy is still a haunting, undeniably powerful sketch of two lover's as addicted to each other as they are to the needle; a film immediately appealing to intense romantics abound.
The Australian production gets by with it's admirably impressive portrait into the lives of truly addicted people, though it is the fierce dedication from our leads that will give Candy it's eventual indie longevity. Heath Ledger has never been better, coming from a more natural place then anything else, in a role that seems tailor-made for him to play. Opposite, Abbie Cornish absolutely holds her own as the good girl gone wrong in a noteworthy performance that has already helped gain her a slightly larger reputation in the states. Unfortunately, pronouncement of the great Geoffrey Rush as third-billed is merely a marketing ploy, as he delivers more a glorified cameo then anything else...everyone does since screen time is consumed with this couple's intriguingly warped embrace.
A bit overwrought at times (though circumstance would certainly demand that to a degree) Candy is still a haunting, undeniably powerful sketch of two lover's as addicted to each other as they are to the needle; a film immediately appealing to intense romantics abound.