Rating: 
Summary: Beauty
Review: It is absurd yet comforting to, as the amazon reviewer has, relegate this film to the destruction of hope when it is sought through back-alley dreams. The character played by Ellen Burstyn is as absurd as that of her drug addled son and as absurd as reality however you choose to experience it. One should be left hopeless after this film and to transpose this ennui onto mere drug addiction is to deny the truth and beauty of this film and to create one's own illusory sense of life. We are all lost in the same mist, heroin, television, whatever and this film is universal, not a condemnation of particular lives, but of all life. This is, however, why this film will never gross 100 million in the box office, it is not a film the populous could or should comprehend. It is a film for the existentialist.
Rating:
Summary: Reqless
Review: From the opening of the film, you recognize the subject matter. Aronofsky paints a vivid picture of addiction, decay, demoralization and debauchery. Although the subject matter is foreign to some, one can identify with Sara's thirst for company and longing for a past long forgotten.If you can sit through the whole film, you will have experienced a horrific account of the addict and their fall from grace.
Rating: 
Summary: Shock Theater
Review: There is no question that Aronofsky is a brilliant filmmaker-- this film is hypnotic and utterly gripping in every sense. The actors, particularly Ellen Burstyn (who deserved an Oscar), are brilliant. If you ever need reasons NOT to do drugs of any kind, see this movie. It certainly raises new possibilities for the medium of film, because I've seen a lot of them and there aren't many that leave you feeling the way you do after seeing this one. How do you feel? Numb, depressed, hopeless-- in short, the film makes you feel like a junkie. The experience of seeing dilating pupils, shooting needles and Jared Leto's festering arm (nothing in film has ever made me cringe like that) is not unlike Burstyn's grotesque shock therapy. The movie is like being bludgeoned-- in a good, cathartic way, if that makes any sense. See it for the experience and see Aronofsky's brilliance firsthand, but I'll only see it again if I feel like punishing my mind.
Rating:
Summary: Make ya glad you don't have their problems
Review: I watched Requiem for a Dream, stone cold sober, alone in my dark basement in the middle of the afternoon. Once I finished, I walked around feeling strange for the rest of the day. I dig movies that mess me up. Requiem for a Dream did just that, and I have to say, I didn't think it was going to. It is the story of a group of drug addicts and one of their mother's addiction to diet pills. The story is wacky and the editing is perfect. Watch Requiem for a Dream only if you enjoy movies that leave you feeling disturbed for a few hours.
Rating:
Summary: requiem for a dream
Review: Its not for kids. This film was one of the best film of the 2000 year for movies. I felt it should have recived more recognition then it did. If you're the kind of person that likes only movies like, "The Sound of Muisc." My best advice is, DO NOT SEE THIS FLIM. But, if you are open-minded enough, you will enjoy this film to the fullest.
Rating:
Summary: Very well done
Review: This movie was a story showing pictures of the haunting stories of drug addiction. It looks so real, and the characters were played by great actors. The story is based upon four people, who have their hope and all and all their life thrown down the toilet by drugs. A mother whose son is frequently shooting heroin with friend and girlfriend, while she is sitting at home popping diet pills one after another. The mother lives a life where she sits home lonely, and watches a game show, which quickly takes over her life. The son and his friend start selling heroin, only to make a lot of money, then throw it away on drugs again. His girlfriend after finding out that he can't get coc anymore, starts going to a dealer and using her body to get what she wants. This is a story of destruction of dreams and hope, losing everything, and unalble to regain what they have lost. Haunting images are shown, and anyone who watches this movie frequently is very sick, however it is worthseeing once, shows you a very true story about drug addictions.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but...
Review: What attracted me to this movie was the soundtrack, which was probably the single most incredible soundtrack I'd ever heard. I have heard good soundtracks - but those are usually a random collection of songs by various artists which compliment a movie well, but this is a proper score.
It's a score unlike anything else I've ever heard, and it was enough to keep me enthralled when I finally got around to watching the movie it belonged to.
However, the movie itself isn't so great. The theme is somewhat interesting - that what seems like the catalyst to make all your dreams come true is in actually the thing that will ruin your life, but there is very little in the plot that hasn't been seen before. In short, this is a drug movie. You can expect junkies making bad decisions, acting stupidly and generally ruining their lives when it seems obvious to the audience what the right choices would be.
What saves the movie is the downward spiral of Sarah Goldfarb, and old woman who becomes addicted to speed. It is a strange situation, since durgs and geriatrics aren't often aligned in such a way, and also very disturbing, as the world around her becomes increasingly skewed as the movie winds on. This footage alone is enough to scare anyone away from hallucinogens for at least a week. Overall, the movie is worth watching once, and the soundtrack worth listening to numerous times. Worth buying, in fact.
Rating:
Summary: Best Film of 2000-2001
Review: Disturbing. Amazing. Stunning. Horrific. Depressing. Funny. Sad. All of these words describe Requiem for a Dream, but only one more nees to be said. Important. The acting is great, the script is brilliant and the direction is undescrible. Unlike anything I have ever seen, directing takes a new turn in general. I love this film. Simply amazing. Especially fun to see Wayans in something beside a spoof or D&D. 5/5
Rating: 
Summary: Hyperbole Galore with MTV Video style director
Review: This is a midly entertaining film that explores addiction. It also shares the same downfall as "Magnolia". Requiem for a Dream is a much better film than Magnolia however in the sense that there is purpose and a statement in the film. Magnolia OTOH, was a beautifully directed terrible film with characters that nobody can hopefully identify with ("Magnolia" had no real meaning or plot to anybody but the self-serving director and a few others who managed to hallucinate some meaning out of "Magnolia". Traffic was an outstanding movie on addiction, while Requiem for a dream relied on too much hyperbole and SHOCK effect, as if it were an MTV video. I think it was worth watching once, perhaps, but it is does not have a lot to offer. Traffic OTOH was either 4 or 5 stars out of 5. This film does not deserve more than 2 to 3 stars.
Rating:
Summary: a real kick in the teeth
Review: With only his second feature film, director Darren Aronofsky proves he's a force to be reckoned with. In the world of modern film, it's difficult to find movies that are shocking, uncompromising, and remorseless in their pursuit of characters hitting a constant series of dead ends. Which is why "Requiem for a Dream" is such a shot of cinematic napalm, a work of art more intensely mind-boggling than David Fincher's "Seven" or David Cronenberg's "Crash." The story follows the generally nihilistic lives of drug addicts (including a diet-pill addicted Ellen Burstyn) in search of their next fix, and the experience is amazingly visceral. There's not much plot, but the illustration that the highs of the addict will eventually spiral out of control and into desperation and depravity is delivered without being preachy or making the characters sympathetic. On top of this, Aronofsky's visual style is stunning; as opposed to utilizing obscure camera angles, sped-up images, and peephole effects for style alone, he makes it the perfect all-seeing eye into lives clouded by chemical means. The last ten minutes of "Requiem for a Dream" is probably the most intense string of images ever committed to celluloid. On a different note, the soundtrack--by Pop Will Eat Itself refugee Clint Mansell--is the best bit of scoring I've heard since the Dust Brothers handled "Fight Club."
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