Movie Review: Hard Candy (DVD Review)

Hard Candy (DVD)

I'd heard a little about Hard Candy (all of it good) when it was originally released, but then...nothing. But a friend of mine who's a real movie fan remembered, too, so when she saw it at a local video rental store, she grabbed a copy. We had the chance to sit down and take a look at Hard Candy this weekend, and what a sweet movie it proved to be!

Hard Candy is (as I learned from a little online research) Internet slang for an underaged girl. We've all heard the stories about those men who prey on those underaged girls via online chatrooms and instant messages, too. Hayley Stark (Ellen Page) is one of them. At 14, she's got a provocative screen name and flirtatious manner that's just begging for unsavory contact. 32 year-old photographer Jeff Kohlver (Patrick Wilson) is happy to oblige.

After several weeks of online chat, Hayley tells Jeff she'd like to meet him. Jeff eagerly agrees, and the two set up a time and place that very day. The two get together in a local coffee shop, but it isn't long before Hayley finds herself agreeing to visit Jeff's house where he's got an MP3 file of a concert that she really, really wants to hear. In short order, the teenager is drinking vodka screwdrivers and wandering around Jeff's house looking at framed photos of young models and chirpily asking questions. But just as Jeff moves in for the obvious next step, he finds the tables turned and Hayley well in charge of everything that happens next.

That's it. That's the entire storyline. In fact, that's almost the entire cast. Almost all of Hard Candy takes place in Jeff's house with only Jeff and Hayley present. And yet Hard Candy is one of the most gripping and suspenseful films I've ever seen. That's due to several crucial elements.

Ellen Page gives a singularly brilliant performance (she's older than 14 in real life, but still quite young and I suspect we can expect formidable performances from her for a long time to come). Despite — or perhaps because of — her sweet pixie good looks, you find yourself fearing for her and then just fearing her by turns. Patrick Wilson is a good looking man who manages to convey the visceral creepiness of a pedophile perfectly, but also somehow comes across as an otherwise perfectly regular guy. Without his finely nuanced performance, there's no way we could go from hating this guy and everything he does to actually having some sympathy for the poor bastard.

Brief appearances by the wonderful Sandra Oh (as Jeff's neighbor) and Jennifer Holmes (who plays Jeff's grown-up girlfriend) are truly brief. Hard Candy rests entirely on the performances of its two leads. As good as both are, the movie would have been much less if not for truly fantastic direction from David Slade and Brian Wilson's unparalleled script. The script is truly amazing, and Slade took it and brought it to life with all its stupendous possibilities realized.

The sets are few but perfectly rendered; the edits (again, the director gets some credit here, but so does the obviously world class editor) are terrific; and the cinematography and some delightfully skewed camera angles all mesh together with that superlative script and those stellar performances to offer up a movie watching experience that's everything an avid fan might expect and then some.

Hard Candy includes some very controversial subject matter and some extremely uncomfortable scenes. Yet nothing is superfluous, and it all contributes to the overall effect. That effect, I have to say, is considerable. The movie ended with my friend, me, and her daughter sitting in her living room with our mouths open. I'm not entirely sure what the first comment was or who voiced it as the credits started to roll — it's hard to remember anything when you're stunned! — but I'm pretty sure it was, "Wow." Yes. That sums Hard Candy up nicely.

Hard Candy didn't enjoy broad publicity or release likely in some part due to the subject matter. But it also suffered from a very low budget (about $1 million) which means there was little to spare for publicity. Despite severe budgetary constraints, you'll find the movie itself lacks nothing where quality is concerned. In fact, I think the only thing Hard Candy lacks is the larger audiences it should have had and the avid fans it so deserves. Consider this review some small effort to rectify that egregious oversight.

If you're a fan of cinema, and you appreciate brilliant performances, direction, or scripts, rent a copy of Hard Candy and do it sooner rather than later. I realize it's early in the year, but Hard Candy is so good I'm already wondering if it might be the best film I see in 2007. I'm certainly betting it's one of them.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Hard Candy is rated R for "disturbing violent and aberrant sexual content involving a teen, and for language." Hard Candy may be about a teenager, but it is in no way suitable for children or even young teens. Hard Candy is, indeed, quite disturbing and in a singularly adult way. I'd recommend the movie only for those age 16 or so and up, and mature older teens at that. But that being said, I'd recommend Hard Candy to those with the stomach for it, and I'd recommend it in the strongest possible terms.