Candy
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Movie Reviews of Candy
Movie Review: Stumbling Toward the Abyss
Summary: 3 Stars
Stories about the cruel annihilation of physical, emotional and spiritual lives that follow addiction to drugs appear to be constant sources for films. If seeing the destruction of people's lives when they become addicted to drugs helps those who are on the teetering brink of trying heavy drugs to avoid the fall, then these films are well worth the making. Yet if the constant barrage of stories such as this one fails there, then the reason for continuing this line of filmmaking is questionable and wearing. Such is the case for this very well acted, directed and produced little film from Australia.
Based on Luke Davies' novel "Candy: A Novel of Love and Addiction" and adapted for the screen by Davies and director Neil Armfield, this story is divided into thirds: heaven, earth, and hell, unfortunately leaving the audience in the final category. Dan (Heath Ledger) is a poet who drifts around living off loans from friends. He is deeply in love with young artist Candy (the very beautiful and talented Abbie Cornish) and together they use drugs, advancing to heroin through the encouraging pastime of Professor Casper (Geoffrey Rush) who manages his addiction rather well and maintains a live-in lad Jorge (an impressive little debut by Roberto Meza-Mont). Dan and Candy explore their passion and love with the enhancement of drugs: this is the 'heaven' segment. But their disconnected relationship is questioned by Candy's parents (Tony Martin and Noni Hazlehurst) and when Candy announces their engagement, her parents fear the lack of character that Dan represents. Dan and Candy marry, now completely addicted to drugs, live in a ware house, and without income Candy turns to being a hooker and Dan tries to become a male hustler with out success, finding it easier to steal credit cards and explore fraud: this section is 'earth'. Candy becomes pregnant and the couple decides to go clean, suffering together the withdrawal that eventually leads to Candy's miscarriage, an event that breaks the spirit of everyone around them. They see the need to be clean and they move to a shack house outside Melbourne where they attempt to find a new start only to go back to drugs (hell episode has started) and Candy descends into psychosis, gradually ending up institutionalized. Drugs have fractured Dan's and Candy's love, their family ties and even their relationship with Casper and the few other friends they have.
The film is unrelentingly dark except for the few moments in the heaven portion when the passion and love of the couple is radiant. Ledger and Cornish are superb if a bit flat due to the storyline, Rush delivers his usual fine acting and Martin and Hazlehurst show significant talent in tough roles. The problem with the film is its overdrawn length about a situation that changes very little: there is no arc to the storyline, just a constant unrelenting descent in to the abyss of self-destruction that accompanies the devastation of drug addiction. But if the viewer doesn't mind a story with no light at the end then this is a very well done film from a solid crew. Grady Harp, April 07
Movie Review: Chilling
Summary: 3 Stars
While I detest watching people shoot drugs, I wanted to see this movie because of Heath Ledger. I'd just watched 10 Things I Hate About You. Ledger was a brilliant young actor whose demise makes the irony of the film all the more relevant. He was nominated for the Oscar for Brokeback Mountain (Widescreen Edition) & won the award from film critics associations in Las Vegas, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco & St. Louis. As Dan, Ledger goes to the heights of romance & depths of addiction. His commitment to his work is breathtaking.
Abbie Cornish is amazing as Candy. She was recently in Stop-Loss and "Elizabeth: the Golden Age." Her performance is as emotionally revealing as it is physically. She fully embodies the role from anger to dementia. The short scene where she plays with honey dripping from a table is chilling in its simplicity.
Candy's parents also do excellent work in this film. Tony Martin plays the loving father Mr. Wyatt who always looks on the bright side and struggles to believe the best. His strident wife who chronically fights with her daughter and finds fault with her is played with great panache by Noni Hazelhurst.
Neil Armfield directed the film with a screenplay by Luke Davies based on his book. The movie is gripping and moves well, while the performances are breathtaking. The DVD extras with Ledger talking about the role are interesting. He said that this was a very hard film to do. It was also a very hard film to watch. While this was well done, the subject matter makes it a film that I'm glad to have seen one time only. Enjoy!
Movie Review: Melodrama
Summary: 3 Stars
Ah, the drug film. A genre unto its own, drug films tend to either a.) Portray drug addiction as a horrific nightmare ("Requiem for a Dream") b.)Use it as a tool for dark, twisted comedy ("Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas") or c.) Some combination of the two ("Trainspotting"). "Candy" is clearing aiming for the a) category, portraying young Australian lovers Dan and Candy, whose lives spin out of control when they become heroin junkies.
If the subject wasn't so familiar in modern cinema, this film might have been powerful and shocking, but since so many superior films have already covered familiar territory, the film comes across as derivative at best and melodramatic at its worst. The film is clearly aiming to show how degrading drug addiction is, so we see Dan and Candy stealing, lying, living in squalor and prostituting themselves to feed their habit. Often the film goes so over the top that instead of being shocking, my reaction was more like "Oh, come on!" ... the most obvious example being when Dan and Candy are left in the hospital to cuddle with their dead, stillborn baby.
What saves the film is the performances. Heath Ledger is terrific, fleshing out the lazy, self-indulgent, romantic and ultimately more practical character of Dan. (And I'm not just giving him props because of the circumstances of his recent tragic death). Geoffrey Rush also gives a fine supporting performance playing Dan and Candy's flamboyant "mentor". Abbie Cornish gives a decent performance (though not on the same level as Ledger or Rush), but her character is written as so histrionic that it's hard to imagine any actress really excelling in the role.
Overall, I'd call this a mediocre film with good performances that is probably worth a look if you're a fan of the drug film genre or of Heath Ledger.
Movie Review: Scenes are compelling on their own, but the film as a whole is severely lacking
Summary: 3 Stars
Is Candy a love story or a drug story? A love story about the love of drugs? The movie is unflinchingly honest look at a couple addicted to heroin. The pair is played by Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish (neither with a terribly good complexion due to their drug use). As a whole, the movie is a montage of rather clichéd scenes of drug abuse. You get the bad -- the crippling agony of going cold turkey, the violent rages when demanding a fix, a miscarriage and emotional pain on top of withdrawal, and so on. There are also the rare moments of beauty, of the enjoyment of life driving in the sunlight with the top down. The scenes are rounded out with the pure strangeness of drug havens, such as the juxtaposition of Geoffrey Rush playing Microsoft Flight Simulator while a tan cabana boy in an orange Speedo lounges in the background.
Individual scenes are compelling, moving, and shocking, but as a whole, the film doesn't leave an impression. This is a repackaging of vignettes that have been told before (and in much better films, like Requiem for a Dream, or, on the lighter side, Spun). Everything in Candy has been done before, and in better quality works. This is not to say that the acting isn't first rate, or that there aren't amazing scenes. but Candy as a whole is just not a memorable film.
My cynical side wonders if the director believed that "gorgeous people ruined by drugs!!!" was enough of a premise for a movie, and focused merely on scandalous scenes of drug use, rather than the film as a whole. I'm a junkie for movies about addiction and psychological pain, so I had to watch this one, but it isn't one I'll be recommending to friends.
Movie Review: Well-Acted and Convincing; Still Familair
Summary: 3 Stars
"Candy" - not to be confused with the 1968 comedy of the same title.
Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish give great performances as Dan and Candy, couple in love both addicted to heroin in this small Aussie film. It is the world of the characters who say they can and will change tomorrow but they don't. Like Al Pacino in "The Panic in Needle Park," the film works as convincing portrait of the youth who has nowhere to go, who knows virtually nothing about themselves and their life except that they are slowly going down.
My 3 star rating is based solely on the authenticity of each episode, not the way they are connected to one another. Director Neil Armfield (also respected theater director) knows how to tap the depth of actors' skills, but still couldn't overcome the episodic nature of the source material. (The film is based on a book by Luke Davies who also co-wrote the script with the director). About 30 minutes in, we realize that for all the riveting turns from the actors and three-dimensional characters the film offers familiar things except the very impressive ending. Even the fantastic support (more like a cameo) from Geoffrey Rush as "chemist" Casper couldn't change that.
"Candy" is well-acted and often depressing, but not as devastating as "Requiem for a Dream" thanks to the romantic side of the story, love-hate relation between Candy and Dan, which could have been explored more.