Rating: 
Summary: READ THIS
Review: I've read a lot of the reviews... I just wanted to say that it's not just about drug additiction - a lot of it is veered that way but it's mostly about abuse to yourself and shows you the gory details... shows you the hrash reality... shows you what poeple normally leave out. Something about this movie itself is addicting. I read the book afterwards and it was even better in the book. I recommend it to anyone and everyone.
Rating:
Summary: unforgettable
Review: A must see. This movie was awesome but not one I would watch over and over... don't take it the wrong way... the movie was amazing. So amazing that it put me in this melancholy state for a week. I think that everyone, especially teenagers, should see this movie atleast once. It made me think twice about the path I was taking and opened my eyes a lot. It was like a real-life culture shock... on t.v. I really can't describe it but I must say - you have to see it, maybe only once but it's worth the buy... you'll want everyone to see it.
Rating:
Summary: Disturbing
Review: While I found this movie to be completely absorbing and well made it was ultimately very difficult to watch, and yet I was unable to tear myself away, such was my involvement. As a matter of fact, it was so disturbing that I found myself thinking about it for days on end. A friend of mine stated it was the closest depiction of the hell of addiction that he had ever seen. I highly recommend it if you're ready for total emotional involvement but it's not for the faint of heart and it affected me so deeply that I find that I'm unable to view it again. This is no 'Traffic', this is the real deal.
Rating:
Summary: Turning your brain to a pile of anti-drug goo
Review: So basically the point of this movie was, don't do drugs. It was obvious halfway through, maybe even before then. But even though you've realized that, you just can't stop watching it. I saw it at a friend's house and it will not leave my head. "Requiem for a Dream" is most definitely the saddest movie I've ever seen. I tried to read the book about a year ago and could not get through it, however the movie kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The camera angles, first of all, completely astounded me. I loved the way they portrayed the drug-use scenes and when they used screen splits and whatnot. The characters were very, very well portrayed, especially Sara. She broke my heart the most. I can go on about my favorite parts but I won't spoil it. My only advice is, this is not a movie for those of you who get sad easily and don't enjoy it. I'm one of those sensitive types and I love movies that screw with my head so that's sort of a bad combination...and this was definitely a movie I shouldn't have seen. I loved it but, now that I know how horribly miserable it is, I will never see it again because it depressed me so much.
Rating:
Summary: The Haiku Review
Review: Unique filmmaking, Unnerving, terrifying. Not for the masses.
Rating: 
Summary: Like jabbing a needle into an open wound
Review: This film, in a word, sucks. For those of you who don't know, heroin
will consume your life. There, I saved you from having to endure the
assault this film provides in the form of a two hour funhouse ride into the bowels of hell. If you enjoy watching people destroy themselves and have nothing better to do with your time then watch this movie; you're probably dead already anyway. Otherwise, treat yourself to an ice cream and forget about the fact that people make some dumb-ass choices that eventually lead to their demise. I've had more fun drilling holes in my toenail to relave the pressure after I dropped a pepsi on my foot. And all I wanted was a pepsi...
Rating: 
Summary: powerful
Review: A film by Darren Aronofsky This is a powerful movie. While on one hand it would be simplistic to say that this is a movie about drugs, it is also necessary and accurate to say that the movie is about drugs. It would be just as accurate to say the movie is about addiction. This movie is broken up into three stages: Summer, Fall, and Winter. Each stage tracks the descent of the characters into addiction and we watch as their lives fall apart. This is the story of four people: Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn), her son Harry (Jared Leto), his girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly), and their friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans). We start the movie with our characters about to improve their lives. After Sara receives a phone call telling her that she has been selected to appear on television she is obsessed with losing weight and fitting into a dress that she wore years ago. She sees a doctor that was recommended by a friend (the doctor seems like a quack doctor, however), and begins taking diet pills. Harry and Tyrone have a plan to start dealing some higher quality drugs and make money so they can buy some of the highest quality cocaine and sell that and make serious money. Marion is along for the ride and has dreams of her own about designing clothing. At first everything is working fine and we are in the Summer period of the story where everything is at its brightest and warmest and most positive. But it isn't to last. Harry recognizes that the diet pills that his mother are taking are nothing more than speed, with a downer to help her sleep at night. He sees the signs of addiction and that she is starting to become strung out, but all she can see is that she is losing weight. Harry and Tyrone are experiencing great success, but it is all starting to turn sour. The rest of the movie is the slow (though at times rapid) descent into addiction and the repercussions of the drug addiction and lives they are leading. There are arrests and Marion is now willing to trade her body for drugs since Harry is not able to provide her with the drugs she needs. It keeps getting worse and worse and spiraling out of control for all four characters and the end of the movie doesn't give them redemption, but rather rock bottom. As I said, this is a powerful movie, but by no means is this film an uplifting movie. Things start bad, improve a little it and just get worse from there. This is a harrowing look at drug addiction and there is no truly sympathetic character whom I care for and hope things turn around for. What this movie does have are fantastic acting performances from everyone involved (though I am somewhat less impressed with Connelly). I have been impressed with both of Araonofsky's movies (the other being "Pi"), but they have both been emotionally gloomy pictures. I look forward to seeing what he does next and while I think this is an excellent movie, I think I'll be okay never seeing it again.
Rating:
Summary: Where Do You Start?
Review: The defintion of a good movie is this: a movie that makes you think and stays with you long after you watch it, begging you to watch it over and over again. "Requiem for a Dream" is one of those movies by a mile.
When I first saw this movie in the winter of 2001, it literally knocked the wind out of me. I had seen many movies about this subject matter, but this one, and only this one, managed to knock you out, making you watch even though you wanted to turn away.
What makes "Requiem for a Dream" a great movie exactly. Well, everything about it. From Aronofsky and Selby's script up, this movie is pretty close to flawless.
The acting is indeed flawless. Ellen Burstyn should be suing the Academy for giving Julia Roverts her award. This is a performance that shoudl be studied, and is one of the best in the history of movies. Jared Leto, from here on out loses his "poor man's Johnny Depp" stigma with a great performance. Both Jennifer Connoly(the last few minutes of her story pretty much sucked away my will to live for a few hours after the movie) and Marlon Wayans(???) completement the leading cast perfectly in understated performnaces.
Arnofsky uses all the tricks in his bag, and uses them well. This is sort of like an Mtv video from Hell: quick cuts, playing with slow-motion and artsy angles, but by the end, you see what it was all for.
This movie is most certainly not a movie for everyone. If you thought "Trainspotting" was too disturbing to watch, for example, then you really should avoid this movie with all your life. But if your not weak of heart, then you should defintley seek out this voyage into a sort of Hell. You will not regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Requiem for a Dream
Review: I watched this movie late last night and had a very disturbed sleep. Even though it's been 20 hours since I watched this film, I can't shake it from my mind. The movie gives a real picture of the evils of addiction. The music and special affects are brilliant. You have to see it.
Rating:
Summary: Original, cliche-sparing drugavaganza...
Review: The reasons this movie is brilliant are -in my opinion- not easily graspable for most people. This becomes more obvious if one reads some of the negative reviews here at Amazon.
I read here in some reviews that this movie is poor because...it's depressive! Since when do films need to be cheery to be good? Is life that way? Is reality, anybody's reality that way? I read in other reviews that this film is not good because "there's no message involved" or because "there's no ethics defended". I really fail to understand such mindsets. This film is a depiction of reality, a very particular reality, that of people being addicted to heavy drugs and the lives they lead. THAT is the message. It's simply a raw depiction of a specific reality that millions of people (esp. in the west) are experiencing daily. Now, as far as "ethics" are concerned, i'll say this: if the director endulged in some heavy pedagogic diatribe via this film to tell us that "drugs can be dangerous for you" i'd simply say "duh" and watch something else. Besides, he does show that in a more than obvious way. But thankfully, he doesnt attempt to shove an agenda down our throats. Now to the film itself: I'd already been super-impressed with the director's previous film (the equally brilliant "Pi") so i was more than intrigued about this one.
I was rewarded again by Aronofsky as a viewer. This film has great camera work (it's through and through cutting edge stuff visually) , great acting, minimal but efficient dialogue,
and an absolutely superb conceptual soundtrack (most of it is based on one theme). It surely is hardcore in its visuals but there's more quality here to be discovered as the director doesnt try to impress with cheap and unrealistic scenes. There's nothing in the film that's over the top or exaggerated and that might sound as self-understood but there are more than enough films with a drug theme that stretch things to extremes visually as if depicting things realistically isn't overwhelming enough. No need to describe the plot as 10s of other reviews have already done so, so I'll simply reccommend this film (as many others did too) to anybody with a passion for groundbreaking cinema. Extra kudos for Burstyn's performance which is definately show-stealing but even more credits for the fact that "Requiem for a dream" doesn't merely stay on the illegal drug scene but takes a hard stab at the legal drugs. Legal they may be, but there's literally millions of people battling serious addictions from them and they continue to be prescribed massively nevertheless. An ode to antihypocrisy as well as great filmwork.
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