I haven't written a movie review before, I thought I'd give it a go.
Hard Candy - 2005 -
"A mature 14-year old girl meets a charming 32-year old photographer on the Internet. Suspecting that he is a pedophile, she goes to his home in an attempt to expose him."
I'll admit that I saw the trailer for this movie and was intrigued. It was clearly a character based drama addressing an uncomfortable subject. I'll also admit that due to the subject matter I was also a little reluctant to watch it but was assured by close friends that it isn't at all 'creepy'....and it wasn't.
I found this movie to be a visual feast. I really enjoy movies that have a high cinematic value. "Punch Drunk Love" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" are examples of this. In this case I loved the setting at "Jeff's" house as it seemed to be that typical Californian style house. The exterior shots towards the end (esp the scene on the roof) in particular were very rewarding.
Both actors are relative unknowns...I'd never heard of them. They were fantastic and had me completely convinced of their characters, especially Ellen Page (Hayley) who played the 14 year old 'Hard Candy' (an online term to describe an under aged girl). It was fun to watch Hayley's character go through ranges of emotions as she seems to lose it when things don't go right for her. It was also uncomfortable, as a man, to experience Jeff's....erm... discomfort secondhand. Due to the nature of how the plot unfolds, you can't help but want to make some of his decisions for him, or both of the characters. The film seems to want to challenge the viewer to side with each of the characters at different points in the movie...like good movies can.
In all, the pace of the movie was ideal and didn't feel long (or short at 103mins) which is surprising considering how few things actually happens during the story. I feel if a movie finishes and you have no idea how long it was (I was surprised how short it was) then its about right.
I'm not sure if I would recommend this movie to my Mother, but if you like your movie that keeps you thinking, a bit of action, looks great, has a wee twist, and makes men uncomfortable then this is a definite recommendation.
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Originally Posted by WRT
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