Candy

Die australische Kinematografie bietet ein hohes Niveau, wovon zahlreiche australische Schauspieler zeugen, die es auch im Ausland geschafft haben - Crowe, Kidman, Blanchett, Watts und das Trio Ledger, Rush und Cornish, die im Streifen Candy spielen. Heath Ledger stellt erneut seine außerordentlichen schauspielerischen Fähigkeiten unter Beweis, und Abbie Cornish ist nicht weniger toll. Ein viel, viel, viel besserer Film über Drogen als Drugstore Cowboy, den ich vor kurzem gesehen habe. (31.08.2008)

This movie knocked me on my ass. Candy is one of my fondest memories of Heath Ledger. The division between Heaven, Earth, and Hell is really apt and makes the film even more interesting. (01.05.2011)

Making a movie about drugs is like going through hell—it's a real test of what the actors are made of, assuming they don't sneak anything in during filming. Thankfully, that's not the style anymore, so it all comes down to raw talent, and the performances here are spot on. Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish deliver as a couple of artists who spiral deep into addiction without hesitation. Watching it, I couldn't help but feel the loss of Ledger even more. At least we have films like this to remember him by. (27.04.2011)

Practically every significant type of cinema has gone through a period of interest in drug topics and made a few films where it was teeming with meth and meth-heads. Candy is a quite late product of the genre, which already has its strongest and most provocative films behind it. It is by no means as original and darkly sarcastic as Trainspotting, nor is it too raw or professionally up to standard to make its mark on the history of the respective genre or cinema in general. Only the casting of the central duo is worth mentioning, with Heath Ledger becoming a celebrity, particularly due to his premature end, and Abbie Cornish being so sweetly blond and likable, in addition to delivering a decent performance. Perhaps only two scenes stick in my memory, especially Candy's written confession in the empty shack, and that is very little for such an emotional topic. Overall impression: 60%. In my opinion, Candy is a bit too optimistic, ending with a significant happy ending (because in the meth world, it truly represents a film happy ending). By the way, I didn't believe in the mutual emotions in that scene. If they had truly gone through meth hell, something else would have been reflected in their eyes. And most likely, they wouldn't have crossed paths at all. (13.01.2010)