Review of Hard Candy (2005) by Tyler M — 31 Mar 2012

Nothing is yours when you let a teenager into your home.

Hard Candy: n. (internet) slang for an under-aged girl.

The Story: A teenage girl invites herself into the home of an internet predator in order to expose him as a pedophile. It sounds simple, but there's plenty of complexities to be found here, as you never stop learning about the characters. It's got a great sense of style that changes at the flick a switch. One minute the colors are bright and vibrant, and the next minute they're cold and sterile. Also, this film has a lot of implied violence, in other words, you don't necessarily see a lot of the bad things, but you know damn well what's going on at all times. As I said before it's hard to watch, and that's an understatement. It's difficult for two reasons; one, the violence is disturbingly realistic, and two, there's a lot of odd sexual tension between our two leads, a 30-something fashion photographer and a 14(?) year old girl.

The Cast: Patrick Wilson, Ellen Page... Patrick Wilson is Jeff Kohlver, a fashion photographer with a taste for hard candy. Throughout the film you'll undoubtedly find yourself unsure of what to think of this character. Do you hate him? do you feel sorry for him? Are you allowed to feel sorry for him? Right off the bat, he's not the best actor in the world, but once the film starts moving, his performance becomes startlingly realistic. By the time the film is over you'll forget he's an actor. Yeah. He's that good. Ellen Page is Hayley Stark, at first glance she would seem to be an innocent but intelligent young girl... At second glance she's a cold, maniacal, sadistic bitch. As with Patrick Wilson, she starts out as a mediocre actress, but once things take off her performance becomes terrifyingly and unnervingly real. One of the best performances I've ever seen in any film... Yeah, she's that good.

One to Five Scale: 5.

It's a tough one to score, and I've gone back and forth on 4 or 5... On the four side its disturbing sexual tension and high level of realistic implied violence make it downright hard to watch. On the five side, it's strong message, powerful performances, and innovative ever changing color scheme and style make this one an instant cult classic of the highest caliber. The new grindhouse is upon us and Hard Candy is a true head liner.

Tyler.