Review of Hard Candy (2005) by Alex S — 17 Mar 2016

Enough works in David Slade's micro-budget shock fest that I'm hesitant to write it off altogether. The cast is dedicated at a perverse level, the saturated, claustrophobic direction is reminiscent of Jean-Luc Goddard's best, and the expository scene is a masterclass in stage-setting. But man does this movie take torture porn to the next level. Yes, child abduction and pedophilia are among the worst crimes imaginable, but the revenge fantasy in play is beyond excessive.

There are three huge issues keeping it from being satisfying. First, Jeff's (Patrick Wilson's) guilt is kept ambiguous until the very end, so his relentless torture may be completely unjust. Innocent until proven guilty, right? And the movie takes its time proving it, while throwing him under the bus in increasingly dramatic ways.

Secondly, the film feels stretched. After a stellar opening, the dialogue wears incredibly thin. Hayley (Ellen Paige) in particular will make a point, then make that same point again, and then again all in a matter of minutes. The dialogue is also overly serious and spells out every bit of subtext wherever it can. You can practically hear the writer's own self-importance every time someone speaks. It all feels really amateur.

Finally (and this is another script-related issue), the climax and conclusion are both illogical and silly. On paper, they seem like cool ideas, but in practice they feel shoehorned as if the writer started there and crafted a story around them. Again, it feels like an ego thing. "Isn't it cool that I did this," it seems to scream. The answer is no, not really. 4.2/10.