Requiem for a Dream

Every movie you've ever seen about the downward spiral of drug addiction is as innocuous as Alice in Wonderland compared to Requiem for a Dream, Darren Aronofsky's (Pi) soul-rattling, cerebral and cinematically ingenious runaway train of gruesome overindulgence. Starring Jared Leto as a heroin junkie dragging his girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly) along into a harrowing dungeon of chemical dependency, the film co-stars Ellen Burstyn in an astonishingly powerful Oscar-nominated performance as his brittle, depressed mother, who cops a habit for under-the-counter diet drugs that trap her mind in a similar waking nightmare. A psychological horror movie of infected needles, traumatic hallucinations and lascivious sexual indignities, Aronofsky's psyche-plumbing, genius-level reinvention of the cinematic drug trip is a hard movie to watch, but because of its brilliant visual kinetics and disquieting emotions it's even harder to look away. Highly recommended. (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray Review—Oct. 13, 2009—Lionsgate, 102 min., not rated, $19.99—Making its first appearance on Blu-ray, 2000's Requiem for a Dream sports a great transfer and a DTS-HD soundtrack. Blu-ray extras include two audio commentaries (the first by director Darren Aronofsky, the second with cinematographer Matthew Libatique), a “making-of” featurette (35 min.), “Memories, Dreams and Addictions: Ellen Burstyn Interviews Hubert Selby Jr.” with the costar and the author (20 min.), deleted scenes (11 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a harrowing contemporary cinema classic makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]