One problem with this film lies with how it's structured; to me it has a very 'episodic' feel about it whereby it seemed to be filmed in lots of short segments and each segment gradually moves the story along. You may think at this point 'Hey what's wrong with that?' That's how a normal narrative works - yes it is, but the problem with this film lay outside the basic narrative.
Another big problem with this film lies with its very poor development of characters; Bobby & Helen are the two main characters and throughout the entire running time we learn very little about them. As mentioned there are lots of little scenes between Bobby and Helen, but the writers never allow us to learn much about them meaning that you always feel as though the writers are keeping Bobby and Helen at arms length from you. The same thing can be said of the story and due to the rather 'episodic' nature of the film, I found that the writers tended to move from scene to scene without really developing the characters or offering any real commentary. I expected the film to be thought-provoking, insightful or perhaps even moving, but I honestly felt cold & unattached from the film as a whole. Characters one minute would be at death's door (Bobby's OD'ing scene) and then in the next scene they would be fine giving the audience nothing to reflect upon. Aside from Al Pacino's OD'ing scene I never felt as though the characters were suffering from the effects of drugs and never felt as though they were in much danger - which again just made me more and more uninvolved as the film progressed.
The only positives I can draw from this film come from the performances of Al Pacino and Kitty Win who clearly did the best that they could with what they had to work with. I really disliked this film and the rather abrupt ending was also quite strange. Requiem for a Dream is a much better film tackling a similar theme and you'd be better served watching that film.
Another big problem with this film lies with its very poor development of characters; Bobby & Helen are the two main characters and throughout the entire running time we learn very little about them. As mentioned there are lots of little scenes between Bobby and Helen, but the writers never allow us to learn much about them meaning that you always feel as though the writers are keeping Bobby and Helen at arms length from you. The same thing can be said of the story and due to the rather 'episodic' nature of the film, I found that the writers tended to move from scene to scene without really developing the characters or offering any real commentary. I expected the film to be thought-provoking, insightful or perhaps even moving, but I honestly felt cold & unattached from the film as a whole. Characters one minute would be at death's door (Bobby's OD'ing scene) and then in the next scene they would be fine giving the audience nothing to reflect upon. Aside from Al Pacino's OD'ing scene I never felt as though the characters were suffering from the effects of drugs and never felt as though they were in much danger - which again just made me more and more uninvolved as the film progressed.
The only positives I can draw from this film come from the performances of Al Pacino and Kitty Win who clearly did the best that they could with what they had to work with. I really disliked this film and the rather abrupt ending was also quite strange. Requiem for a Dream is a much better film tackling a similar theme and you'd be better served watching that film.