Directed by:
David SladeScreenplay:
Brian NelsonCinematography:
Jo WillemsComposer:
Harry EscottVOD (3)
Plots(1)
For three weeks, 14-year-old Hayley Stark (Ellen Page) has been chatting on-line with 'Lensmaster319', a 32-year old fashion photographer, named Jeff (Patrick Wilson). The two agree to meet at a coffee shop called Nighthawks and they hit it off, despite the massive age difference. Hayley appears to flirt with Jeff, and Jeff generally restrains himself, even admitting that he must wait four years before he can be with her. But his reservations are apparently not enough to decline when Hayley all but invites herself over to his house. It's not long before Jeff's underage guest is pouring drinks and posing provocatively for an impromptu photo shoot. As the evening's questionable activities take a decidedly sordid slant and the raptorial Jeff appears poised to strike, a sudden turn of events finds that his apparent victim has had a plan of her own from the very beginning. (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (5)
The educational appeal with an upraised index finger about meeting strangers from the chat room is still palatable. Yet from the moment the game of self-appointed prosecutor, judge, and executioner begins, which is supposed to be a form of satisfaction for all the abused children, the film becomes a disgusting construct. Logic takes a break and the director relies solely on a cinematographer with a penchant for filters and blurring. However, that's nothing compared to the lady named Ellen Page. At (then) eighteen, she certainly doesn't look fourteen, but her annoying nature trumps even the most annoying brats from all corners of cinema. The only functional scene is the ending on the roof (emotions, logic, credibility), which is definitely not enough for a 100-minute film.
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Czech writer and traveler Iva Pekárková describes in her book "Šest miliard Amerik" an experiment undertaken by journalists some years ago that tried to prove that the people in American society had become indifferent toward each other. They placed a crying 7-year-old girl on a bench in a park and filmed from a hiding place to see what would happen. Dozens of people passed by the little girl, but instead of addressing her or raising the alarm, they continued on their way and, if possible, walked as far around her as they could. After a long time, a stranger approached the child. Pekárková further explains that except for the worst neighborhoods, it is practically impossible to find children playing in nature or on the streets. For decades, the US has been plagued by hysteria regarding perverts and pedophiles, who have nothing better to do than abuse, rape, and murder innocent children. From a young age, children must live in safe bubbles consisting of a house with a yard and a car that can potentially take them to another safe bubble. Children are persuaded that any stranger only wants to harm them, and if anyone approaches them, they should call for help. Most adults would not dare to help a child in trouble for fear of being accused of attempting to harm them. Although the number of criminal cases in the area has been decreasing for many years, the hysteria wave is only increasing. It is unthinkable to enter a playground without one's child, and it is extremely dangerous to take photos on the street or in a park where children could also be present because anyone can accuse you of pedophilia, and such accusations are taken very seriously and are difficult to shake off. Lynchings are not uncommon occurrences either when there is a misunderstanding. We live in a world with fluctuating values, and in movies and series, we sometimes even root for successful criminals, including serial killers. Resisting those who harm children is one of the last areas where people can agree, so the do-gooders have taken the cause and are willing to be the first in line to start throwing stones. This campaign, with all its negatives, has also spread to Western Europe, where it is currently fashionable to search for anything in the biographies of famous personalities and especially politicians that would suggest anything other than a strongly condemning attitude towards pedophiles and other sexual deviations. The film Hard Candy perfectly rides the wave of this hysteria. Although explicitly immoral, the most detestable thing about it is that it presents itself as a defender of the weak as if it were morally superior. It is a strange construct where an 18-year-old girl, who also looks 18, plays a 14-year-old girl with the mindset of an adult woman. I have a daughter who is currently the age of the protagonist, and what the screenwriter is trying to put on my plate is, pardon my language, nonsense. Pedophiles behave and think differently than Slade imagines, and how Wilson acts... Moreover, and above all, only a significant minority of pedophiles engage in abuse. The rest satisfy themselves with their fantasies, which they often transform into artistic forms. For example, Lewis Carroll was most likely a pedophile. The only positive aspect of the film is the performance of the two main characters. For Elliot Page, it was her ticket to the world of cinema, which she used to the fullest. Unfortunately, due to the negative feelings it evoked in me, the film itself will not receive more than 25% from me.
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Thrilling from the first to the last second. Hard Candy is primarily a well-acted film, a showcase for Ellen Page (I really love that girl) and Patrick Wilson.
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Too cold and contrived for my taste. Wilson could have saved himself so many times, only to end up falling for a screenwriter who is clearly a first rate feminist and has endowed Ellen Page with a literal sixth sense. Physically, moreover, the film lacks intensity, and while I felt the increasing psychological pressure with discomfort, it seemed unnecessarily dampened at times by the overblown and unreliable script. That said, there are plenty of positives, from the performances of both actors to the climax, where the overly ambitious plot was concluded with a surprisingly ingenious and disturbing twist, just as it could be expected from a similarly intimate moral thriller.
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Two stars for Patrick Wilson and Ellen Page. The story was absolutely flat and didn’t deviate an inch from its set course, so there wasn’t much in the way of an actual plot. You don’t get to learn much about the main characters either, apart from their age difference. Moreover, both of them were driving me nuts. Halfway into the film, I started hoping for a gas explosion that would put a premature end to the story. I somehow made it to the ending and now I’m wondering what the film was trying to say. That pedophilia is bad? I don’t think this was the best way to do that.
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