Hard Candy

[newmy]

Did a search and didn't find a thread for this, so here goes. Never heard of this movie until I saw the trailer for it while watching the crapfest known as "Hostel". The trailer really intrigued me. Here's the synopsis:

A smart, charming teenage girl, Hayley probably shouldn't be going to a local coffee shop to meet Jeff, a 30-something fashion photographer she met on the Internet. But Hayley's ready to have fun, and soon she’s mixing screwdrivers at Jeff's place and stripping for an impromptu photo shoot. It's Jeff's lucky night--until his vision blurs and he passes out. Turns out Hayley isn't as innocent as she looks after all. In fact, she has a lot on her mind. Like getting Jeff to confess to his penchant for teenage girls--and to what he did to Donna Mauer, the girl who disappeared from Jeff's favorite coffee shop. When Jeff awakens, he's tied to a chair. If he doesn't cooperate, Hayley has something to help him along--a little surgical procedure she picked up on the Internet. All she needs is an ice pack--and a knife.

This synopsis makes it sound kind of cheesy, but the trailer was really well done and makes the movie appear suspenseful and unique.

While searching for info about this movie, I noticed it stars Sandra Oh, which is the only recognizable name to me (and I love her on Gray's Anatomy).

Looks like it comes out in April. Hope it doesn't disappoint.

[vegasusa555]

I want to see this too. The trailer showed in my showing of "Hostel" and afterwards, everyone was whispering about how interesting it looked. I hope it's good .

Does anyone know how old the girl in the movie is? If that's an older actress playing younger, then she did a good job. She looked twelve so that made the trailer extra creepy!

[Deleted]

The actress who plays Hayley is now 18 so I think she was 16 or 17 while filming this movie.
My main reason to go and see this film (whenever it'll be released in Europe) is that the wonderful Patrick Wilson plays the other main character.

[slanderous]

The actress who plays Hayley blew me away in the trailer. I'm totally interested in seeing this but wish I knew more about the film.

[cinnacism]

I haven't seen it, but I've been a fan of Patrick Wilson since Phantom of the Opera (what? leave me alone!) and thought this looked good. I did hear that it might be a little worse for guys than for girls-- do you think it's safe date material, cinnacism?

Whoops, sorry about the duplicate thread.

Yeah, I don't know if it'd be such a great date movie unless you're both into indie stuff and don't mind talking about incendiary topics right off the bat. The majority of the movie is just two people sitting in a house, there are gender issues, and there is some intense physical "violence." But if you think you two are up for that kind of thing, it's a great movie and will probably provide you with plenty to talk about afterward.

[hal9000]

Saw this doing the film festival rounds in Sydney.

Upside: acting by Patrick Wilson good. But he has nothing much to do, so I can't imagine this doing much to advance his career. Ellen Page can deliver a quip, but she seems to have based her affectations on the Angelina Jolie character in Foxfire, which was quite annoying. The digital imaging looks fantastic. This was my favourite part of the movie. The first third of the movie shows the extent to which the technology can be used.

Downside: All of the scenes go on for far too long. It is a too indulgent swapping the vigilante premise for horror movie conventions in one scene, and the will-she-or-won't-she tension that is attempted just results in abviousness and tedium. The story was based on an interesting idea but the resulting story sinks under the weight of it and the ending while explained thoroughly by the characters, still remains somewhat preposterous.

It is aiming for the "it makes the audience think and unsettles them emotionally" kind of but is ultimately too flimsy. It would have made a great short story or an interesting hour of episodic TV.

[Deleted]

I saw this on DVD the other night.

The first twenty minutes were sort of a bore but then it got interesting. Good art direction and photography. The script was better than most horror flicks. Good twists and misdirections. And this wasn't a splatter flick. What was left to the imagination was best left to the imagination.

I like Patrick Wilson and he is always good but he didn't bring the hint of creepy that should have been given to the pedophile---particularly at the end.

Ellen Page was good and her character was the real mystery. Was she really 14? What were her motives? And how many squirrels and little animals did she dissect in biology class or at home in her room? I'd like to read her journal.

Sandra Oh was a hoot as usual.

[Hamatron]

I just... couldn't suspend disbelief for me to get into this movie. Ug. It was just silly.

I think a film *really* on the subject of internet predators and the teens that are victimized (or... yeah, even a well-done revenge movie) could be a really interesting/upsetting film. But, this one sort of felt like some sort of lame revenge thing written by some speical interest group, written using the most stereotypical character profile possible. I didn't believe that the girl? Lady? Was capable of the things she was doing or the extensive monologues she was giving. I just... couldn't bring myself to see this as anything more than "Revenge fantasy cliche vs. the sexual predator brochure: The movie."

Sandra Oh's part was a waste of her time-- some extra from TV land could have done just as well.

[jilly]

chatchien said:

Ellen Page was good and her character was the real mystery. Was she really 14? What were her motives? And how many squirrels and little animals did she dissect in biology class or at home in her room? I'd like to read her journal.

Sandra Oh was a hoot as usual.

I was disappointed that they didn't reveal more about her character in the end. Such as, who was the murder victim in relations to her? Was it her sister? Her friend? Did she say that she dissected animals? I don't remember that. The actress was very good. I couldn't really buy that she was fifteen though. She was too composed, too controlled. I can believe that she's off the charts bright and able to pull off such a set up, but I think they should have shown some adolescent emotions. She was hitman-like controlled.

It was an interesting movie. I couldn't make up my mind whether this kid had it all wrong about the guy. Right up until the end, I thought maybe he was just some sick pervert who had never actually touched anyone. That was probably a point they wanted to make. Pedophiles can look and act like anyone. They don't necessarily stand out in a crowd.

All in all it was a compelling move. Grade: B

[Deleted]

I'm unwilling to accept that they were trying to make a statement about anything other than those two characters. Not about pedophilia, not about the internets or chatrooms, not about revenge. Just about those two specific and unique characters.

I just like that Patrick Wilson gets another role in which to shine and, good golly, Canada is really producing some awesome young actresses in the past decade or so (Rachel McAdams, Sarah Polley and, of course, Ellen Page). There aren't many brainy, challenging roles for girls out there and it's easy to see why she jumped at the Hayley part.

I think they were both despicable but utterly engaging characters, from start to finish. And even though I vaguely remember being spoilered about the surgery, what really happened came as a complete surprise, as did the last few moments.

I had a tension headache when it was over. So, yeah, thumbs-up from me, too. I'd rather be headachey and distressed (and pissed-off) than completely unaffected.

...and "I am an honours student" has now joined "I have to return a video tape" in my creepy-movie non-sequitur database.