Candy is my favorite Heath movie. A masterpiece about love and addiction. It started filming on January 27, 2005 and was released on February 15, 2006. Candy is 1.000 times better than Trainspotting (and Trainspotting was really good) and 1.000 times less known than Trainspotting. Candy is a touching and strong love story full of despair, hope, regrets, dreams & failures. The story does not try to judge, punish or teach. There are no good and bad guys. Candy is a human and honest portrayal of the hell of heroine, a story about real love and a movie that will break your heart into a million pieces. Heath describes the movie like "a film of love (…) not a story about heroine". Heath explains: "Heroine is involved but I think that the beauty of this film (is that) it's not exploding heroine or glorifying it in any way (…) It's a tragic story of love". Director Neil Armfield was a bit hesitant about using Heath as Dan, since he thought that Heath had a natural energy that was heroic, and Dan was grubby and edgy. But, again, it was Heath's performance in Monter's Ball that "got him" the role. Luke Davies (the writer of the book upon which the movie is based and screenwriter of the movie, together with director Neil Armfield) wrote a beautiful and touching article about Heath after Heath's death; he describes Heath as a talented, generous, kind and sincere human being, and says: "It was Monster's Ball that convinced Neil Armfield that Ledger was the one for Candy". What attracted Heath to the project was the novel, which he describes like a "tragic love affair with both the drug and each other", the screenplay and the fact of being allowed to use his own accent, which he didn't do since Two Hands and 10 things I hate about you: "shooting a film using my own accent was attractive … I haven't done that for 8 years. I was looking forward to feeling liberated from … having to perform with an accent … It was a sense of freedom. I was able to mumble in my own accent, to breath in my own accent, to improvise freely". Abbie Cornish gives a breathtaking performance. Heath says about Abbie: "… she's incredibly talented … She relies a lot upon … instinct and the magic of the scene, and she keeps it real and she's a very grounded human being, very talented obviously, very beautiful… I could not have asked for a better Candy". I must say that Abbie is the strongest and most brilliant female character of all of Heath's movies. I'd go further and say that two of the most beautifully portrayed love stories in cinema history are the ones of Ennis and Jack, and Candy and Dan. Candy is a real jewel. Director Armfield is awesome and the cast (Heath, Abbie and Geoffrey Rush) is superb.

Intense moments in this film really can shake an absorbed viewer to their core. "Candy" drags the viewer into the down & dirty life of heroine-addicts-in-love who are truly at the mercy of the drug, day in & day out, to the point that they resort to prostitution. If you can handle it, you'll get a fairly accurate & intimate glimpse of addiction at its worst ...full of nasty needles, self- destruction, co-dependency, death, withdrawals, poverty & the like. Heath & Abbie are devastatingly genuine & will definitely appeal to the bohemian/indie flick lovers. You can practically eat up their flaming chemistry. Some mainstream watchers with an understanding (or experience) in the subject matter will likely find this to be a moving cinematic piece as well. I would say the acting & intimacy of it all makes it stand apart from just being another "druggie movie."The ending is not necessarily "satisfying" to most, so don't see this expecting generic Hollywood entertainment.*** On Another Note *** SO sad to see this film compared to Blue Valentine!! "Blue Valentine" leads the viewer to believe in the common fallacy that one should/can get married to change or "train" their spouse instead of loving them for who they are, unconditionally. Overall the shallow & heartless tale pales in comparison to the film Candy, because Heath's character actually makes the sacrifice of love for the well-being of his wife (unlike BV.) Disappointing to see that a story about a heroine addict can be used to portray love better & truer than a shallow story about a supposedly *matured* mother.

Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish play Dan and Candy, two young bohemians who fall madly in love while shooting heroin together. In the beginning, the couple's days are occupied with making love, shoplifting, and having a strung-out wedding day that ends with a lot of giggling over a couple of Big Macs. Despite Candy's disapproving parents, they cling to each other with a fierceness that shuts out any and all outside criticism. When funds or drugs are low they pop by the house of a pharmacology professor named Casper (Geoffrey Rush), who uses his professional expertise to supply them with pharmaceutical-grade heroin. As the reality of their addiction creeps to the forefront, they must turn to desperate measures to get their fix...Candy is one of the most beautiful and poignant films I have seen lately. It's extremely rare for me to feel the need to re-watch a film immediately after the first viewing but that's exactly what happened with Candy. I didn't, of course. I rather let the film sink in and then watch it again after a couple of weeks or months but it goes to show you how much I enjoyed the film. Candy starts with the two main characters entering some sort of rotating device ( a futuristic carousel if you will) along with a bunch of kids while the famous "Song to the Siren" plays on the background. From that moment I knew I was watching something special and I also knew that Candy, just like the rotating device, would be a hell of a ride. And I was right. The film is a realistic portrayal of what addiction does to people and shows the several stages of Dan and Candy's relationship. Because of its realism, the film can be hard to watch at times but I think every single scene in the film is absolutely necessary to tell the story effectively. Candy was beautifully shot and the soundtrack is mesmerizing. There's a lot of conceptual scenes that add to the depth and poignancy of the film and that show the director's unique vision. Yes, heroin abuse has been documented in many films but there's something very special and beautiful about Candy. Both Ledger and Cornish deliver terrific performances. They displayed a huge amount of talent and it was some of the finest acting I have ever seen. I think it's absurd how Heath won an Oscar for his performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight (which I thought was completely average) and yet, his brilliant work in Candy was completely over-looked. Overall, a touching, entertaining and absolutely beautiful film that I strongly recommend.9.5/10

A griping and intense love story from director Neil Armfield. Candy(Abbie Cornish), a carefree art student, and hopelessly disconnected poet Dan(Heath Ledger)are hooked on each other...and both are hooked on heroin. This is a deep and darker love story than most. The real world actually takes back seat to their recreational drug use that has taken over their lives. Casper(Geoffrey Rush), an older friend and chemistry professor from the university is their main supplier. They feel they have found all they need in each other. Marriage and unsurmountable debt proves to be a burden about as big as their drug habit. A humiliated Candy starts prostituting and even hapless Dan considers becoming a gay whore. Self-destruction has its price and Candy pays first. But can life actually drag itself out of the cesspool? Cornish and Ledger seem to go unashamedly soul-deep in their roles. CANDY may not be for everyone; but misery loves company.