Monday, 4 December 2006


DVD Review - Candy
Rural Press Network


Candy

★★★★

Directed by: Neil Armfield
Starring: Heath Ledger, Geoffrey Rush, Noni Hazelhurst
Rating: MA15+, 2005,
Duration: 85 mins


Don't expect an easy ride from this wrenching yet rewarding film.

Yes, as expected from a tale about junkies, Candy's story is not a cheerful one.

Adapted from Luke Davies' autobiographical novel, it charts the relationship rollercoaster that ensues as two people fall deeper into heroin addiction.

Before too long they're discarding their values at a rapid rate, deteriorating quickly from petty theft into prostitution.

What makes this intense piece stand out from the crowd is that it resists the urge to either glamourise or moralise the drug issue, focusing instead on the love story, while remaining realistic enough to scare anyone straight.

Abbie Cornish is magnetic as Candy, getting sucked deeper into heroin abuse by her user boyfriend, Dan (Heath Ledger, who just keeps getting better).

The excellent casting continues with Geoffrey Rush playing the couple's mentor Casper to perfection, while Noni Hazlehurst and Tony Martin are suitably helpless as Candy's parents.

Theatre director Neil Armfield, in his first foray into film, makes the transition extremely well, and his use of silence rather than dialogue to create emotion is especially effective.

The movie is striking enough to speak for itself, so the token extras including deleted scenes and interviews with Armfield and Davies are barely worth mentioning.


Source: Rural Press Network
Original Story Link