A REVIEW OF HARD CANDY is in!
http://www.joblo.com/arrow/reviews.php?id=1003
I knew nothing about Hard Candy before checking it out and that ignorance contributed in me enjoying the flick to a higher degree Im sure. So I will grant you the same luxury; I will play the vague card in this review. You see I do give a ****e!
Hard Candy was a twisted psychological thriller that was pretty much set in one room, with two actors going at it for the length of its running time. We were first treated to a good old game of psychological warfare with both fighters attempting to manipulate each other in the name of having the upper hand in terms of the situation. The back and forth was compelling to say the least with the flick addressing some serious issues. Now that I think about it, this bitter ride pretty much acted like its leads when it came to us, the audience; it manipulated us, made us ask questions, lied to us constantly and messed with our emotional attachments in terms of the fighters in this ring. Yup, the old Arrow Grey Matter was working overtime on this one. Needless to say, that cranked my dial like nobodys clock.
Then we had The Scene as I will call it. The Scene was a horrible act committed on one of the leads at some point during this battle of wits and brawl. Lets just say that The Scene was expertly staged, showing me nothing, yet suggesting so much that my imagination filled in the blanks like that
no
I mean
LIKE THAT! I was wincing, cringing and tensing up in my seat as if tortured by the angel of death. Talk about making one jerk (being me) uncomfortable! OUCH! "Jenga" on top of that artsy/polished visuals, superb performances by the two players (Ellen Page was a revelation), some riveting physical action and a knack at manipulation that rivaled my cheating ex (****e) girlfriend and you get an infectious watch; one that I couldnt take my retinas off of.
On a negative hanging: the affair did go on for too long when taking into account the amount of susbstance at hand. I truly believe that some snip-snip (like 10-15 minutes) would made the film much stronger. Furthermore, Im all for precautious but the character of Hayley was way too on the ball for her young age. I didnt fully buy it until the second half of the flick kicked in. Lastly the ending didnt gratify me 100%. I dont know what I was expecting or wishing for but that wasnt it. Something was missing.
All in all though; do yourself a favor and suck on this Hard Candy. The themes of murder, deception and pedophilia have been addressed in countless films before
but not like this. WOW!
Patrick Wilson (Jeff) managed to evoke hatred and sympathy out of me throughout. Quite the feat! Good show! Ellen Page (Hayley Stark) was remarkable in communicating the many layers of her character. Shes definitely a young actress to watch for!
