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Candy

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Candy (2006)

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Reviews Counted:74

Fresh:36

Rotten:38

Average Rating:5.8/10

Consensus: Stars Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish look better than they should as heroin addicts, and their characters are too absorbed and self-pitying to be totally compelling.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for pervasive depiction of drug addiction, disturbing images, language, sexual content and nudity.

Runtime: 1 hr 48 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:03-11-2006

Synopsis: In Neil Armfield's CANDY, Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish play Dan and Candy, two young bohemians who fall madly in love while shooting heroin together. In the beginning, the couple's days are... In Neil Armfield's CANDY, Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish play Dan and Candy, two young bohemians who fall madly in love while shooting heroin together. In the beginning, the couple's days are occupied with making love, shoplifting, and having a strung-out wedding day that ends with a lot of giggling over a couple of Big Macs. Despite Candy's disapproving parents, they cling to each other with a fierceness that shuts out any and all outside criticism. When funds or drugs are low they pop by the house of a pharmacology professor named Casper (Geoffrey Rush), who uses his professional expertise to supply them with pharmaceutical-grade heroin. As the reality of their addiction creeps to the forefront, they must turn to desperate measures to get their fix. Candy becomes a prostitute, and Dan a thief and con man. When Candy discovers she's pregnant, they decide to go cold turkey, but the horrific side effects of withdrawal result in a miscarriage. The two tumble into despair, and opt to move to the country to try methadone treatments. Candy's depression soon blooms into a full-blown nervous breakdown, and as her parents finally usher her into rehab, Dan returns to his friend Casper for comfort, only to find him dead of an overdose. Heroin abuse--with its soaring highs and inevitable crash--has been well-documented in many films. However, CANDY brings something fresh to the story with its focus on the doomed junkie love affair. Candy and Dan tumble into each other much in the same way they descend into addiction--with a white-hot, desperate need that blinds them to reality. It's a moving, realistic portrait of how that kind of all-encompassing, obsessive love can sometimes be just as powerful as any drug, and just as hard to kick. [More]

Starring: Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush, Paul Blackwell

Starring: Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush, Paul Blackwell, Tom Budge, Nathaniel Dean, Sandy Winton

Director: Neil Armfield

Director: Neil Armfield
Producer: Emile Sherman, Margaret Fink
Studio: ThinkFilm

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Reviews for Candy

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Those with the stomach for searing drama will recognise superior writing, direction and acting in one of the most heartbreaking films of the year.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Angie Errigo
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Impressively directed, moving and frequently harrowing drama with strong performances from both Cornish and Ledger.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
11/16/06
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

An excellent, heartfelt film to compare with Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
11/15/06
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Both actors put in terrific performances while the film captures the grim, grinding cycle of dependence just perfectly. But for all that, it’s very hard to get excited about a film with so little to say about [such] rich topics.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
11/15/06
David Edwards
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]

Harrowing and strongly moving, this junkie drama beautifully explores the emotional core of its characters. It helps, of course, that the cast is this good.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
11/15/06
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

It leaves Ledger and Cornish all smacked up with nowhere to go.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
11/11/06
Jamie Russell
Jamie Russell
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[A] slightly over-familiar but neatly told story of a sexual/romantic passion at once partly fuelled and blighted by drug addiction.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
10/28/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul | comment Comment
08/19/09
Jim Ridley
Jim Ridley
City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

Davies has no new insights into the heroin spiral, but this silly melodrama benefits from the palpable chemistry between Ledger and Cornish

Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly | comment Comment
05/15/09
Amy Nicholson
Amy Nicholson
I.E. Weekly
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
11/20/08
Michael Szymanski
Michael Szymanski
Hollywood.com

... Candy is a rewarding experience. It may not be one that you will want to return to any time soon, but it is one that you will not soon forget.

Full Review Source: DVD Review | comment Comment
07/10/07
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
Felix Gonzalez Jr.
DVD Review
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
05/12/07
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Without real characters or a fresh take on drug addiction, Candy has little to recommend it for anyone who's seen The Basketball Diaries or Requiem for a Dream.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
02/06/07
Katey Rich
Katey Rich
Film Journal International

The performances are good, but it would be hard to recommend this to anyone unless you have a lovely daughter who's dating a sleaze-bag and you want her to watch it as a deterrent.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
01/19/07
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

Undeniably affecting.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
01/12/07
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

Hands up if you don't know that drugs are bad for you.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
01/11/07
Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly

... it feels more like something out of American cinema from the late 1960s or early 70s [and] may say more about the state of Australian film than anything else.

Full Review Source: Murphy's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
01/11/07
Ted Murphy
Ted Murphy
Murphy's Movie Reviews

"Candy" won't make anyone forget "Trainspotting" (1996) or "Requiem for a Dream" (2000), but nor will "Candy" let those who see it soon forget the experience.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
01/11/07
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

The question is whether "Candy" is intended to be an honest and unflinching look at the junkie life, or merely trying to top "Trainspotting" and its ilk.

Full Review Source: Capital Times (Madison, WI) | comment 1 Comment
01/04/07
Rob Thomas
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
 
 
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Latest News for Candy

March 13, 2007: "Candy" Girl to be Bond's Next Flame?
Just in time for the DVD release of "Casino Royale" comes word, via IGN, of rumors regarding who'll vamp it up opposite Daniel Craig in the inevitable next Bond movie.... More...

December 07, 2006: A Few Random "Dark Knight" Nuggets
Poor Heath Ledger is out there on the circuit trying to promote his indie flick "Candy" -- and all he's getting are "The Dark Knight" questions! Ah well, I... More...

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