Candy

UK Release: 3rd November 2006

Watched on LoveFilm Instant: Friday 19th October 2012

Rating: 15

Genre: Drama, Romance

Runtime: 1hr 56mins

Tagline: Love is a high you can never come down from

IMDb Plot Synopsis: A poet falls in love with an art student who gravitates to his bohemian lifestyle -- and his love of heroin. Hooked as much on one another as they are on the drug, their relationship alternates between states of oblivion, self-destruction, and despair.

My Review: I wasn’t prepared for how emotional this film is. It is gut-wrenching in its rawness; the raw pain and suffering of being a drug addict coupled with the raw pain and suffering of being intrinsically tied to someone through love. The performances from Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish had me in tears. They deserve every award they got (Geoffrey Rush was also magnificent). It almost hurt to watch this. Despite being junkies, they also had such an intense vulnerability: you are completely on their side.

You go through this horrifically beautiful yet haunting journey with them and I don’t think any words I can say can fully encompass how much I adored this film. Not because it was clever or funny or thrilling (even though it is all those things and more). But because it is like no other film I have seen. The only film I can think of that came close is Blue Valentine. But even that felt forced compared to this. 

Every high and low between these two felt so real, even now I can’t believe how good it was. I urge you to see it if you can - just try to be prepared for the roller-coaster of emotions that I just went through...

Score: 9/10