HARD CANDY

By: Rachel Reitsleff
Review Date: Friday, April 14, 2006

At the beginning, HARD CANDY seems like it's going to be an extremely disturbing yet compelling drama, perhaps along the lines of 2004's excellent THE WOODSMAN. One cannot discuss exactly what goes wrong in CANDY without blowing a major plot point, but it's looks rather like either writer Brian Nelson and director David Slade got to a certain point in the story, realized they didn't have a clue what to do next and just went into free-fall, or else, more probably, they intended to reach the third act all along without detecting either how badly it fits with what has come before or how overall implausible it feels.

HARD CANDY introduces us to 32-year-old Jeff (Patrick Wilson), who uses the Internet to hook up with 14-year-old Hayley (Ellen Page). After several weeks of online flirtation, the two meet up. Jeff says and does all the right things to impress and flatter an adolescent girl and Hayley finally suggests going back to Jeff's place. Things here do not go according to somebody's plan.

For a good while, HARD CANDY looks as though it may be going to be a very serious examination of questions that movies like THE HILLS HAVE EYES and HOSTEL deal with in more pop ways, primarily concerning when, if ever, outright torture is justifiable. However, this turns out not to be the movie's main concern. Instead, it turns into a virtual finger-shaking session about the evils of adults who sexually exploit minors. Apart from adults who actually do exploit minors, most people already agree that this is in fact a bad thing; they don't require a lecture to come to the realization. Worse, the filmmakers try to have things several different ways with Hayley; it's one thing for her to be extremely bright, but her perspective is at odds with her age.

Fortunately for the movie, actress Page is extraordinary, pulling off every personality phase the role calls for with fierce conviction. Wilson as the fluid, manipulative Jeff is also intense and committed. There are good stretches of the movie where their performances alone justify viewership. However, HARD CANDY winds up imploding so completely that it's hard to recommend. People who see it will have a lot to talk about, but perhaps not on the topics the film means to put at the forefront of our minds.