The film (based on the Neil Armstrong novel of the same name) centers around a young couple, Dan and Candy, who dream of a perfect, utopian life. They are young and they are in love, with both each other and heroin and the longer the love affairs go on, the more devastating they become. The story is broken up into three parts- Heaven, Earth, and Hell- in which viewers experience the downward spiral of addiction and watch as the two beautiful people slowly turn darker; doing anything and giving up everything for that one more hit. If you have ever seen The Basketball Dairies (1995, starring Leonardo DiCaprio,) the depiction is even more real. When I was a tween (though that phrase had yet to exist) most of my friends were in love with Leo and therefore I was exposed to many viewings of that movie and let me tell you watching that was a better Anti-drug message than anything, anyone could ever tell me. Candy is more intense, more real, and I think it should be shown to ever middle school and high school child. That will never happen unfortunately, but I’m not getting into PTA type practices at this time.
Back to Candy. The reason the movie is so good, writing aside, is the talented cast, which along with Ledger and Cornish, also stars Geoffrey Rush (this year’s Best Supporting Actor for THE KING’S SPEECH) as Casper, a college professor who acts as a surrogate father to Dan as well as mixes his own heroine from the chemistry labs. It is fun, if also heartbreaking, to watch Rush try and balance between being caring while still maintaining the “cool uncle” status. The truth, we know, is that an addict can never really control their own life let alone help others but somehow you want to believe Casper will save all three characters.
As for the role of Dan, Ledger does some of his finest work as the poet who really never meant to do any harm to Candy. The character also acts as the narrator so he gets to explain himself, “I wasn't trying to wreck Candy's life. I was trying to make mine better,” as well as show how easily it is for someone to slip into a life of excess, “We'd found the secret glue that held all things together. In a perfect place, where the noise did not intrude, our world was so very complete.” This performance got overlooked because the movie had the unfortunate timing to be released almost immediately after Brokeback Mountain, for which Ledger received his first Oscar Nomination. It didn’t get the press, or the wide release, of its predecessor because it is easier to see the art movie about the ranch hand with complicated feelings than the one that might make you sympathize with a junkie. However, if you thought Ennis Del Mar lived a tragic love story; you need to see how he brings to life Dan.
Then there is Candy herself, Cronish. She more than holds her own on the screen with the two Oscar winners. Her performance is so real, as she plays strong and fragile at the same time she (along with Ledger) makes you root for the junkie, feel for the junkie, and think to yourself, “maybe that could be me.”
If you like fluff movies, this is not a film for you but if you want to think and watch a truly good film, go rent Candy.
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