Rating: 
Summary: Flawless
Review: As with his first film PI Darren Aronofsky drains the audience with his gripping storytelling skills. If there ever was a movie to display the horrors of drugs, this is it.A MUST SEE !
Rating: 
Summary: A giuded tour through Hell
Review: I would have to agree with Jeff Shannon, to watch this film more than once would be masochistic.All the actors are excellent in their roles and the 2 central characters, Harry(played by Jared Leto) and Marion( Jennifer Connelly) a drug addicted couple, bring forth the chilling realities of addiction,exploitation and self degradation to the point of discomfort.This film gives you the sensation of not wanting to see but having to.Connelly,as beautifull as ever seemed almost too pretty and I wondered why she took the role until I had thought about it after seeing the movie.This script would be hard to turn down for any serious young actress with her great talent. The story points out a very disturbing fact in our "cozy" little world:how one human being can so easily exploit,degrade and throughly de-humanize another when the situation arises.Again, for the open minded and stout of heart only,this film is a must see but it will stick with you for awhile.Very true to life,but takes it to the limit.
Rating:
Summary: Close minded film buffs don't even bother
Review: Darren Aronofsky's tale of drug abuse awakens a genre that has been beaten to death with fresh terifyingly new imagery that will make you want to curl into a fetal position on the floor after you watch it, it's that powerful. Every conceivable detail to the camera angle, the dialogue is worked on to pure perfection, but what really puts this movie over to top is the score composed by Clint Mansell. The haunting tension building summer overture sets in the first few minutes the dramatic tone of the movie. This is not a movie for the faint of heart, or the conservative type, or the conventional mainstream movie goer, but if you can put this in your DVD and sit with an open mind, you will enjoy this film.
Rating:
Summary: Worrylingly disturbing, sickeningly compelling
Review: Before seeing this film I had read all the reviews saying how fantastic it was. Well, it isn't fantastic, and anyone that describes it is fantastic is highly disturbed. For this is one of the most gruelling things that I have ever had to sit through. It is explicit, upsetting and totally unforgettable. But fantastic? Jurassic Park was fantastic, this is on a higher plain. Although the film doesn't really have a message to it other than 'drugs are bad', it thankfully shows both the highs and the lows of the drugs. This is in sharp contrast to other drugs movies such as 'The Basketball Diaries' that seems to consist almost totally of lows. It also shows that ecstasy, heroin and cocaine aren't the only forms of drugs on the market. For example, the same cut shots and editing are used when Harry shoots up as when his mother switches on the TV, eats or drinks her coffee. The point being that there are plenty of legal drugs on the market that have an equally destructive effect. Finally, the explicit nature of the film: I found myself squirming in my seat a couple of times and there's no doubt that there are some pretty horrific scenes here. And as for the incredibly explicit sex scenes, it's difficult to call them exploitive when they so clearly show the degradation that the character has gone through to reach this stage. This film is not for the weak-willed. It is upsetting and mesmerising in its sheer grotesqueness. Yet it is also an unforgettable, important piece of film-making.
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Powerful Film
Review: One of the things I can't seem to let go of after seeing "Requiem For A Dream" is how people can let themselves become victims of their own personal vices. As terrifying it is to see one character try to escape reality by shooting drugs into an infected and rotting vein, I can't help but feel sympathy for those who seem to be unaware of how their addiction has imprisoned them. The character of Sara (played memorably by Ellen Burstyn) is among the greatest example. To watch a character like that change from a complacent, yet likeable human to what we see at the end of this film is nothing less than tragic. What is surprising is how this movie doesn't turn into a celebration of drugs, but rather a stark and horrifying reminder of how habits (of any kind) can destroy the soul long before it destroys the body. This is truly one of the best films this decade has produced.
Rating:
Summary: Best Film In Recent Memory
Review: This has to be one the greatest films of all time. The acting was amazing, and I hope to see more from Marlon Wayans as a dramatic actor in the future, Ellen Burstyn was fantastic and was robbed for best actress. Jared Leto and Jennifer Connely were also amazing and I look foward to more performances from them in the future
Rating: 
Summary: Requiem for a performance.
Review: Yet another junkie tale that, as might be expected, is hopelessly and virtuously depressing. Even though this subject matter is a dead horse, cinematically speaking, that doesn't prevent director Darren Aronofsky from histrionically beating the dead carcass to a pulp. It's about a young Brooklynite (Jared Leto), his socialite girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) who is apparently slumming on the wrong side of the tracks (yeah, right), and his buddy (Marlon Wayans) with whom he tries to run a profitable drug-dealing business in order to set the socialite up with the bread to open a clothing store. Aronofsky, in trying to breathe new life into this genre, goes in some pretty implausible directions (..). Further, there's the ill-defined drug-war ("between the Italians and the Blacks") that serves as some sort of foregrounding for the Leto-Wayans partnership -- what does the former have to do with the latter? It's not clear. Connelly's character ends up in a sequence of sexual degradation that's not so much horrifying as unaffecting. (Compare this with Mike Figgis' *Leaving Las Vegas* and the scene where Elizabeth Shue is beaten and raped by rowdy frat boys in a hotel room. Now that was horrifying.) And the director's repititions, fish-eye camera, split-screens, and the rest of it don't pump up this cliched material. It just makes the movie look like the latest rock video. But since Aronofsky is getting praised for these irritating stylistic tics by young critics and fans who grew up on MTV and know little else, he'll doubtless persist in error. The BIG caveat to this slam of a review is the storyline relating to Leto's mother, played by Ellen Burstyn. In an effort to lose enough weight to fit into a favorite dress in anticipation of appearing on an improbable self-help game show, she becomes addicted to diet pills. Now this is unexplored territory that deserves investigation. Aronofsky even manages to hit upon some primal fears with the ravenous refrigerator that Burstyn begins hallucinating late in the movie -- it's like something out of Lovecraft. And Burstyn's performance is heartbreaking -- the best of last year. I wanted to give *Requiem for a Dream* a higher rating because of her, but the director's immaturity was just too grating.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and Powerful!
Review: This movie was very, very powerful. Kudos to the director for using a variety of film styles to illustrate the various worlds of drug abuse. All the actors were brilliant in this film, but Ellen Burstyn's performance was one of the most astounding I've seen in many years. My heart, lungs, and spleen just dropped to the floor when I witnessed what her character went through. I think this film should be standard viewing for young and old because it doesn't celebrate drug use. It very vividly exposes its horrible effects.
Rating:
Summary: Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No" campaign was more compelling
Review: I don't think the filmmakers even bothered to finish this movie. There was no resolutions, nothing but an endless loop of someone feeling miserable, mumbling their dialogue, and taking dope, and then feeling miserable again. How many times do we have to watch Jared's eyes dialate in that jerky shot? If I wanted to watch a bunch of junkies rot, I would have watched COPS. Actually, you DO get a break from this loop. Towards the end, you get to watch a gratuitious sex party that will make your stomach churn.
I was impressed by only one thing. Whoever made Ellen Burstyn look THAT MUCH like a basket case should be recognize for his or her outstanding effort. Burstyn was great in her role and was very convincing. There are far more better drug themed movies than this. Requiem for a Dream is only for artsy goths that want to depress themselves even further.
Rating:
Summary: Gut-wrenching and difficult to watch
Review: Like many people who have reviewed this movie, I rented the DVD a few months ago with no idea what to expect. Suffice to say, it was quite an experience watching this movie. Some of the scenes in this movie remain in the front of my mind and are impossible to forget - like I switched off the DVD player a few minutes ago even though it's been a few months. Possibly the most gut-wrenching part of taking in this movie was the fact that my grandmother actually went through a similar ordeal as Ellen Burstyn's character. I seriously grieve for my grandmother now that I have seen what Aronofsky illustrated with unrelenting, pulse-pounding vision. Luckily, my grandmother had a support system to help her get through her ordeal, whereas Burstyn's character has no one. It's very troubling to think about what might have been. Bravo, Darren Aronofsky. This is a visionary film - one that should not be watched alone.
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