CANDY — ** — Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, Geoffrey Rush; rated R (profanity, drugs, sex, nudity, vulgarity, violence, brief gore).
"Candy" is pretty much the standard, downbeat, drug-addicts-in-love tale we've seen repeatedly over the years. But what separates this Australian version from some others is its cast.
While lead actors Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish may not be able to overcome the formulaic nature of the story, they do deliver strong performances. They also make this sometimes hard-to-watch drama more accessible than it probably should be.
Cornish stars as the title character, a promising art student who falls head over heels for the idealistic, would-be poet Dan (Ledger). Candy's parents (Noni Hazlehurst and Tony Martin) disapprove of the relationship, especially when the drug-addled Dan begins stealing from them.
Needless to say, the ties that bind daughter and parents are eventually cut, though a father figure of sorts is found in a disgraced chemistry professor named Casper (Geoffrey Rush), who is not the most positive role model. He enables the young couple's worsening addictions; he also makes a series of dire predictions about their probable ugly fate.
Ledger and the fresh-faced Cornish (from "A Good Year") make their relationship at least seem believable. And Rush nearly steals the film with his vivid portrayal of an aging addict who's consigned to his lot in life.
But Neil Armfield's direction is pedestrian, and his storytelling is questionable. As screenwriter, he doesn't get into these characters' back stories as much as he should. Consequently, they feel incomplete, more like sketches than portraits.
It's also way too familiar a story. There's never really any question about what's going to happen to most of these characters.
"Candy" is rated R for strong sexual language (profanity and crude slang terms), strong drug content (use of heroin, including intravenous drug use), simulated sex, female and partial male nudity, some domestic violence and brief gore. Running time: 106 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com