Those with the stomach for searing drama will recognise superior writing, direction and acting in one of the most heartbreaking films of the year.
Candy (2006)
Tomatometer
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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
Reviews for Candy
Impressively directed, moving and frequently harrowing drama with strong performances from both Cornish and Ledger.
An excellent, heartfelt film to compare with Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream.
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.
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.
[A] slightly over-familiar but neatly told story of a sexual/romantic passion at once partly fuelled and blighted by drug addiction.
Davies has no new insights into the heroin spiral, but this silly melodrama benefits from the palpable chemistry between Ledger and Cornish
... 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.
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.
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.
... 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.
"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.
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.
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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