Absolutely Fantastic

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Mel (Molly Parker) is a mess after the death of her husband. She's a junkie being taken care of by her 10-year-old son Paul. Family friend Vicki (Marsha Thomason) dies in an overdose. Paul is forced to confront that his mother could die from drugs. Her friend Lenny (David Wenham) feeds her the drugs. Paul befriends waitress Louise (Keira Knightley). Mel decides to quit Heroin cold-turkey with Paul helping out but Lenny stop it. Paul's grandparents tries to get him away from his mom.The kid is wonderful in this. Of course, he's given a really juicy role. Molly Parker does a great job as a junkie in a British accent no less. The story is filled with humanity and it flows through the kid. Knightley has a co-starring role as a junkie grifter waitress. It's interesting to see her character presented at first as a savior for the kid.

I picked this film up not knowing what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised. It is a gripping story, and the characters are well-developed. There are indeed several disturbing scenes and some sad circumstances, but it is tastefully done. I think everyone should watch this film, honestly. It reminds the viewer of the harsh realities of the world. Kiera Knightly does a wonderful job in her supporting role, as do the rest of the actors. Definitely an incredible performance by the little boy for such a mentally and emotionally demanding role. The score is also well-written and captures the tone of the film nicely. Overall, this is a wonderful, sad, gripping story that is a must-see!

This is an emotionally charged film with superb acting as many of the other reviewers have indicated.It is also extremely well crafted; great sound, camera work and editing.This is fiction with a purpose beyond entertainment; it provides a glimpse into the world of drug addiction and the ripple effects that few know first hand but many denounce at arms length.Although it has noble intents, it is a bit manipulative in that it pulls out all the strings to make a viewer empathize with the main character's plight (if the main character wasn't a child, or if the addict didn't have any family I doubt the story would be as affective). And, perhaps the ending could have been cropped to leave open questions instead of forging a resolution.Nevertheless, it's a great film. And, definitely one worth watching.

This film examines the pain of drug addiction through the eyes of youth. Molly Parker plays the young mum who can't get off "the gear" and the film is seen through the eyes of her young son who loves his mum but hates what the drugs do to her. The film is OK but not great. The performers all do well with what the script gives them but the film seems to lack something - it almost seems the film is script by numbers. All the usual drug clichés come out - the cold turkey scene, the evil dealer (played by David Wenham) and the death by overdose of one the characters. I don't know why the travails of drug addiction seems to interest film makers repeatedly - it certainly contains enough misery and human suffering which can make for fine drama - the problem with Pure, despite its confronting subject matter, the characters seemed poorly fleshed out. To this middle class art house viewer the film contrasted poorly with other films set in a similar depressing circumstances - eg the stunning Nil by Mouth.On the plus side, the actors all do well - David Wenham has that man ever done a dud performance?