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Hard Candy
Directed by: David Slade
Starring: Ellen Page
Genre:
Thriller/Independent
Run Time: 103
min.
Release Date:
April 2006
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
Occasionally a piece of
cinema pushes boundaries and hits its audience with issues pertaining to
choice, judgement, and morality. These are the type of films that divide
audiences and add heated comments to after dinner discussions. One such
film in recent memory was THE WOODSMAN, starring Kevin Bacon, a story
about a pedophile trying to integrate himself back into normal society
after being released from prison. It pushed us beyond our normal comfort
level and forced us to view the world in a somewhat more empathetic
manner regarding these people (a pretty uncomfortable thing to even
think about). And HARD CANDY asks the viewer similar disturbing
questions but ping-pongs us back and forth between doubt and certainty
about what's happening between the two main characters.
The story opens with two people in a chat room on the internet, typing
suggestive comments to each other. A face-to-face meeting is arranged
and when the two come together, it is obvious there are issues here: one
is a fourteen-year-old girl named Haley and the other is a 32-year-old
photographer named Jeff. From the get-go we're uncomfortable with this
meeting, as we know that men in Jeff's age-range shouldn't be meddling
with a kid. The ante is upped even higher as Haley agrees to go home
with Jeff (indeed, she pushes to go home with him). But once at Jeff's
place, the tables rapidly turn. Haley is a smart and possibly psychotic
young girl. As we delve deeper and deeper into the film, we begin to
feel that maybe Jeff was setup somehow. And as Haley begins to knock
Jeff down time and again, the audiences allegiances towards her stance
are questioned. Should we be cheering for her? Or worried that Jeff may
not be a pedophile after all and simply a nice guy? Time and again the
tables get turned, and the viewer is constantly wondering which of these
two they should be hoping comes out on top.
This is one of the most intense films I've seen in a long time. Not
since PSYCHO has this amount of a mental impact been felt. The beginning
is somewhat slow to get going and many may feel like this is going to be
a cliché-riddled movie. It isn't. As I sat on the couch, watching in
horror as the stakes went higher and higher, my fiancé said, "Honey?
You're squeezing my hand too hard." I hadn't realized how affected by
the movie I'd become until she mentioned this. In fact, several times I
held my breath, something that is a cliché in itself, but something I
couldn't help.
The acting and script for Hard Candy are absolutely superlative. Young
Ellen Page (who was eighteen at the time but fits well into the role of
a fourteen-year-old) delivers the performance of a lifetime. Her
intensity, especially during a set of scenes I like to call "The Home
Surgery Mutilation" is so creepy, frightening, and sick, that I actually
felt nauseous. Patrick Wilson as Jeff is equally impressive and I felt
equally repulsed and worried for him as the minutes ticked by.
But don't be mistaken. The movie isn't forcefully bloody or grotesque.
Its success is owed solely to the interactions of the characters and not
what they do to each other. Men, be forewarned, you may have nightmares
when you're done watching it.
When the flick was over, I felt spent, as if I'd just ran a set of
mental hurdles. That's how good this film is.
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Image from Hard Candy
DVD cost: $22.99
Purchase:
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Film Review Stew
Favorite?
Yes.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
Ellen Page was nearly
passed over for the role of Hayley because she had a shaved head for
another role when she filmed the audition tape she submitted.
Movie Quote: "You
work as a photographer you learn real quick that peoples faces lie."
Other Actors/Actresses
from Hard Candy
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