Hard Candy "A+"

4 Out 5 Doctors Agree . . .

“Hard Candy” is a euphemism for an underage girl found on the internet. It was coined as slang by the predators who scour the internet for underage innocents and it has a double meaning that I won’t go into here. It’s also the name of an amazing film that is sadly appropriate for our times.

This film reminded me of a great little film a few years ago called “Audition” that explored some of the same themes. Unlike that movie however, this film touched on the controversial subjects of child pornography and internet predators. This film takes these themes to a whole new level and it’s now one of my favorites. It’s just very well made.

It’s a reversal of gender roles (which I am huge fan of) that puts the predator in the guise of a 14 year old girl. This film shows that people, not men or women, regardless of age, are capable of the most heinous and diabolical things.

Now, this film could have been an after school special if not for the dynamic and highly charged breakthrough performance of 18 year old Ellen Page. She inhabits this character so fully that her performance is mesmerizing. Looking like a 14 year old boy but acting like Glenn Close in “Fatal Attraction” is quite disconcerting. Page has all the tools that every actress dreams of. She can at once play a sexually charged deviant and show the innate ability to imbibe innocence at the same time. She is a revelation. She delivers her lines with a controlled deliciousness that belies her age. She sometimes says things that are so horrific in such a way that you feel that she is a little girl and at the same time Satan himself. It’s extremely rare for an actress to so wholly engulf a character that you think that this person is actually like that. She might as well become a lesbian in real life because I’m sure that no man would want to get close to her after this performance. She is every man’s nightmare. Yes folks, her performance is that good.

Now the movie does have someone else in it, not that I care. Just kidding, I do care. Patrick Wilson plays the guy that thought he could get away with it and he plays the character with a controlled fury that kicks this film up from after school special to R rated cult film. Understand that this film has two characters in it. The challenge is to make a movie with only two people and and make it interesting. The director David Slade has accomplished just that. The cinematography and look of the film is something you would expect from a big budget Hollywood affair but this is a true indie film with a modest budget. I’m not going to go into the story because if you hear the plot you might think it’s simple (more likely, why didn’t I think of that!) but I will say that this film has a few twists and turns despite what you might think.

This film is not for the squeamish and it’s definitely not a “date” film but it is one of the great movies of the past 15 years. Keep an eye out for Ellen Page as she is a force to be reckoned with. Sadly, I don’t think Hollywood will have a place for her and her career might just end up on the indie route. This will be very sad.

Don’t be put off by the subject matter and reserve any judgement you have, just see this film.