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Black_Dog
Reviews
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
How dreams not are fulfilled
This is a 'must-see-movie". It's a sad story from start to end, and it might get you feeling a little bit sick at moments. The story is about dreams and reality, in this case in a way where the dreams and consequences are the result of drug addiction. The story has been told before but here is originalty in both telling the story and illustrate emotions and what heavy drugs might do to you with the photo and clipping. Any 90 minute standard TV-movie of the same subject will in comparison be shouting out its bad quality. It's not a matter of telling a hollywood-like story about some family fighting against drug abuse, and it most certainly doesn't end up with a happy come-together Thanksgiving turkey or somewhat. For those demanding that kind of false and happy ending, this story will probably be a pain. But perhaps a pain that is motivated if you cannot bear or handle some reality in movies.
The pace is fast and the journey from expectations to disaster runs from the beginning to the end. A tragic lonely woman, living in her own bad-tv-show-reality and her son, trying to get kicks and easy money. Beside the sons girl friend, and in some extent his mate, there are no more main characters. The mother gets an invitation to a tv-show, or more correctly a notation of her being chosed to be in a show in the future. From there she is obsessed with this future performance. It is her life from that on. Living as a poor retired white-trash lady she is determined to be a sucessful and beatuful performer when the time comes. Trying diet will not result in the change shes after fast enough and by a chance she is connected to a doctor that can deliver pills that do the trick. Her nightmare are so close to the viewer it make you sick yourself.
The son and girlfriend on the other hand get their kicks of heavy drugs. At first just for fun, then dreams of making good money in dealing. As it use to in reality things doesn't turn out as espected and they get in trouble and deeper and deeper in heavy addiction.
The different stories of the main characters life are presented parallell to each other. Faster and faster as their lifes become more and more unreal and sad. To conclude I guess that the intentions of what the movie wants to say are very well expressed and convincing. The way the characters kicks and state are illustrated in sequences even so convincing that I expect it whats happening in the brain and body of a person addicted to hard stuff.
I'll give it 8 of 10.
Vanished Without a Trace (1999)
Not worth viewing
Was checking this title and user comments here before I watched it on TV yesterday. All I can say that anyone that cares for at least a bit quality to a story should avoid it. It isn't worth the time. I stayed for long but even if the plot was developing towards the end it couldn't keep me interested - switched channel 10 minutes before the end.
Anyway, the plot brings you what you can read as a summary, presenting the movie. It do not surprise you at all, with a helluva US family that suddenly misses their teen daughter. Then it present some villains that obvious that you immedialtly can count them out as the guy they should look for. And the very caring mother (a boring act by Mrs. Long) seems to control the Police Dep of that town. Whenever she has some crazy idea about the case (that even been cold after several months) she calls up the police and an hour later they are all there with metal detectors, dragging a lake an so on...
And the real villain... ...it took me about half an hour to understand who he was (I'm not that bad that I tell you here - in case you do not follow my advice, the rest of you have no interest anyway).
In between you will have to listen to a lot of crap lines, amatuer philosophy about family life...
Play a record or watch the news instead.