i went into this movie with an open mind and left with nothing but the feeling of being cheated. you see, i am a fan of this genre, and like many others i am a fan of "Requiem for a Dream". not long into this movie something felt very familiar. i was first tipped off when i noticed the word "heaven" sprawled across the screen. normally this would not have been a problem, but having seen requiem, i found the theme of heaven, earth and hell in candy very similar to summer, fall and winter in Requiem for a dream. "no big deal" i thought it could be an homage. however i was not so lucky.
this movie was rife with bad acting, poor plot twists, bad writing and above all else the air of a rip off. it was like they tried to take plot devices from requiem for a dream, but did not pull it off well. for example, in the fore-mentioned heaven/summer etc thing, it seemed to be very off of the place the couple were supposed to be in.
when they were supposed to be in heaven, they were dirt poor, Candy almost died, and later she turns to prostitution (ripoff alert) without so much as a second thought. its like they saw requiem but did not get it at all. anyway, after this, the movie moves to earth or autumn. in this overly long segment we spend what seems like an eternity watching the pair try in vain to quit their drug habit when they find out that candy is pregnant, only to be treated with a stillbirth or dead baby and a scene filled with crying and hugging a DEAD BABY. around this point in time i began to think "i paid $9:50 to watch struggle, not an attempt at drama poorly covered up with something intended to shock audiences" or something like that.
at the end of earth we begin to think "what could be worse? we have seen such horrible things, how can hell top this?". well apparently the writers could not think of an answer because all that happens is candy cheats on heath ledger, goes crazy (temporarily), is then committed to a hospital, where she makes a full recovery, leaves heath ledger who finally gets a steady job cleaning dishes, and ditches her drug habit, turning into a bright beauty. oh yeah, to make things worse they kill off the seldom seen Geoffry rush who was the movie's only redeeming quality.
can you tell me how losing your wife and getting a job/ relatively happy ending is worse than drug withdrawal/ your child's death? oh well. they seemed to miss the point of their derivative theme. how can earth be worse than hell, and how can there be hope in the depths of hell?
so, to sum things up spend your hard earned money on Requiem for a dream and skip this abomination. requiem has good acting, an original plot, characters you can actually sympathise with, some gut wrenching scenes and great dialogue. you owe it to yourself. now go rent!
this movie was rife with bad acting, poor plot twists, bad writing and above all else the air of a rip off. it was like they tried to take plot devices from requiem for a dream, but did not pull it off well. for example, in the fore-mentioned heaven/summer etc thing, it seemed to be very off of the place the couple were supposed to be in.
when they were supposed to be in heaven, they were dirt poor, Candy almost died, and later she turns to prostitution (ripoff alert) without so much as a second thought. its like they saw requiem but did not get it at all. anyway, after this, the movie moves to earth or autumn. in this overly long segment we spend what seems like an eternity watching the pair try in vain to quit their drug habit when they find out that candy is pregnant, only to be treated with a stillbirth or dead baby and a scene filled with crying and hugging a DEAD BABY. around this point in time i began to think "i paid $9:50 to watch struggle, not an attempt at drama poorly covered up with something intended to shock audiences" or something like that.
at the end of earth we begin to think "what could be worse? we have seen such horrible things, how can hell top this?". well apparently the writers could not think of an answer because all that happens is candy cheats on heath ledger, goes crazy (temporarily), is then committed to a hospital, where she makes a full recovery, leaves heath ledger who finally gets a steady job cleaning dishes, and ditches her drug habit, turning into a bright beauty. oh yeah, to make things worse they kill off the seldom seen Geoffry rush who was the movie's only redeeming quality.
can you tell me how losing your wife and getting a job/ relatively happy ending is worse than drug withdrawal/ your child's death? oh well. they seemed to miss the point of their derivative theme. how can earth be worse than hell, and how can there be hope in the depths of hell?
so, to sum things up spend your hard earned money on Requiem for a dream and skip this abomination. requiem has good acting, an original plot, characters you can actually sympathise with, some gut wrenching scenes and great dialogue. you owe it to yourself. now go rent!
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