Synopsis
Men and women chat online everyday. They sometimes decide to meet in person. Jeff met Hayley online and eventually brings her back to his place. What Jeff is unaware of is this is all a part of Hayley's plan.
Thoughts
Bargain bins are always fun to dig through. You never know all that you're going to find for five dollars until you've hit cardboard bottom. Yeah, I order from Amazon, peruse shelves in stores, wander aimlessly on Netflix and Hulu Plus, but they're never as fun as shuffling around movie after movie to find that one random film that sounds worthy of a purchase. The thrill of the dig!
About six years ago on one of my digs I came across a film called Hard Candy starring Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson. At this point, I hadn't seen Juno. I just didn't get around to it. This would be my introduction to her acting. For five dollars, the description sounded interesting enough.
It's a pretty simple premise that escalates rather quickly. Young girl meets adult guy online. They exchange flirtatious banter and eventually meet. They go back to his place, but girl, Hayley, is wiser than guy, Jeff, thinks. Hayley drugs Jeff's drink and the games begin.
I really love a movie that can keep you engross even with how simplistic it may seem to be. I think the key for something in the vein of Hard Candy is the dialogue. I found myself hanging on to every word. There are many films where the dialogue is the focal point and it makes the film interesting to watch if it's, well, interesting. For example, 12 Angry Men is a very simple movie about twelve men in a room discussing whether or not a young man is innocent or guilty. Simple enough, but the dialogue is very compelling. A better comparison for Hard Candy would be Sleuth, but you get my point that the dialogue for something so simple is key.
My favorite part of this film is when the light leaves Wilson's, Jeff's, face. At this exact moment you know he's feeling the drugs. The next scene is high contrast and warm temperature giving the effect of his reaction to the drugs in the drink. Other segments of the film have this very drab blue tint over it and this is showcasing the darkness of Page's character, Hayley. There's so much you can tell just with lighting and color. The first part of the film is very bright and colorful giving this illusion that everything is normal. If you added some music full of cheer you'd have the makings of a sitcom. The minute the light left his face, I knew I was in for something much more.
As far as the acting goes, I was fine up until the infamous procedure scene. Page was doing such a great job and then this unbelievable performance pops out of nowhere. And I mean unbelievable as in I wasn't convinced she was castrating him and called it the minute she opened her mouth at the beginning of the scene. It just felt so fake. I understand that the actual act was meant to be staged to terrify Wilson's character, but Page was not convincing at all. She was fine throughout the rest of the film is why I don't understand how she did such an awful job with this scene.
Hard Candy is a well written and directed thriller. It won't exactly keep you on the edge of your seat, but it will keep you engrossed until the end. If you enjoy a good story of cat and mouse, definitely add it to your queue or even buy it. You won't be disappointed. Well, maybe with Page's performance as a surgeon.
IMDB: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 6.4/10
WeFLM: 7/10
-kp
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