Candy is a tough and brutal look at the costs of addiction and its effects on relationships, and features two great performances by Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish.
Candy
(2006)
Genre(s): Drama, Romance
Shout Factory | R – 118 min. – $27.99 | December 3, 2019
Date Published: 01/01/2020 | Author: The Movieman
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Shout Factory provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.75/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Dan (HEATH LEDGER) is a charming but reckless young poet who falls in love with Candy (ABBIE CORNISH), a beautiful young student who is attracted to his bohemian lifestyle. In order to get closer to Dan, Candy follows in his wayward steps of drug addiction. Their passionate relationship then alternates between bursts of ecstatic oblivion and bouts of despair and self-destructive behavior. Hooked as much on heroin as they are on one another, they fall into an intense love triangle — a boy, a girl, and a drug.
Quick Hit Review: Candy is a harrowing and candid look at the cost of a heroin addiction, not to mention dependency of two addicts portrayed amazingly by the late Heath Ledger in the era when he moved towards more independent films, as well as Abbie Cornish who plays so well opposite Ledger. And you can never go wrong having Geoffrey Rush in your film and in a supporting role, has some fine and strong scenes, but this is very much a tour de force of acting by Ledger and Cornish… Directed by Neil Armfield and scripted by Luke Davies (adapted from his own novel), I’m not sure why this didn’t receive more attention, though probably due to this being an Australian indie flick (plus the heavy material) and didn’t get much of a release stateside with only 12 screens and $45k domestic cume. Now out for over a decade, I can only hope this gets a good following as it does tell an honest view of heroin addiction.
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SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.5/5 |
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All of the features from the DVD have been ported over: an Audio Commentary by Director Neil Armfield and Writer Luke Davies; Candy: The Path to Wild Abandon (9:12) featurette; Writing on the Wall (2:22), Candy’s Poem in Motion; and the Theatrical Trailer (1:50). |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Shout Factory releases Candy on Blu-ray presented in its original 1.85 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer. Since there was no mention of some sort of restoration, presumably the transfer was provided by the studio, but even so, I thought this looked rather beautiful, detail was fairly well defined and even though it is a dark subject, there was some vibrancy in the colors and dark levels appeared stark without seeming crushed. |
AUDIO – 4.5/5 |
| The movie includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track (a 2.0 option is also available) and although this is strictly a drama with plenty of dialogue, from the opening credits I found this rather impressive with some nice depth when it came to the score by Paul Charlier (whose only other credit was 2009’s Last Ride). |
OVERALL – 3.75/5 |
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Candy is a tough and brutal look at the costs of addiction and its effects on relationships, and features two great performances by Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish, both of whom were deserving of Academy Award consideration. This Blu-ray from the Shout Select line does have great video and audio transfers and a fine selection of bonus features. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.