(Some spoilers ahead.) There's no way I'm going to be able to claim I enjoyed this movie. It's heartwrenching and difficult to watch. Every character's addictions bring them and their hopes and dreams down with them, with possibly one of the least hopeful endings in any film ever. But it's brilliantly done. Each character finds themselves drawn back to their drug, whether it be diet pills or heroin, and doesn't even notice that it's slowly unraveling them until it's too late. Ellen Burstyn's character, I think, is the saddest, starting off with what she thought was an innocent way to lose weight and ending by losing her sanity. Jennifer Connelly's dignity is viciously stripped away from her as she consents to doing what she would have considered unspeakable, just so she can get her next fix. The much-spoken-of final climactic scene, where each character is brought to the point of no return, where we see how far they have come since we began to follow them, is jolting and terrifying and haunting. The final shot of the four characters curled up in a fetal position, most of them wishing the misery could somehow be finished... has to be one of the most vivid ending moments in any film I've seen.
I've never been tempted to try addictive drugs of any kind, really, and I'm not sure how I would have responded to it if I had been. But I am very glad I saw this movie and would recommend it to mature viewers as an example of how quickly addiction takes over our lives, whether it's an addiction to television, eating, drugs, or all three, as was the case with the elderly woman. Terrifying, but well worth watching. 4.5 stars.
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