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+ Best Independent Movie of the Year + Best Shooting Star Actress of the Year: Ellen Page
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| A skin-crawling poster for David Slade's Hard Candy |
It seems impossible to relate anything from the plot of Hard Candy without giving away some of its unpredictable allure, so I will confine myself to presenting its exposition:
A 32 year-old hermit photographer takes a 14 year-old girl back to his home after flirting with her in an online chat-room and subsequently in a café.
I won't reveal more of the plot but recommend the film for anyone up for an edgy, intense and unnerving ride with formidable performances from the leads, played by a real trooper here, Patrick Wilson (Little Children (2006)) who faces Canadian shooting star Ellen Page (Juno (2007)): Her performance and work in Hard Candy is especially impressive due to her age, - and she stands out as obviously a very, very bright young lady here.
The film has some Saw (2004)-like physical uncomfortability to it, - and it was indeed distributed by Saw-handler Lionsgate, - and definitely, if you like hard-edged horror like Saw, then you shouldn't miss Hard Candy. It builds on a gimmick of 'turning tables', as producer David Higgins (The Damned (2013)) also brazenly points out in the DVD's great behind-the-camera-featurette, just as Saw in a way does. More than in that film, though, I believed the gimmick here and didn't notice it as such during the film. - It is too riveting and realistic not to. - The realism of Hard Candy also makes it worse to sit through in my opinion.
It is the 2nd feature from great English director David Slade (Motion (1994)), and Slade has made many intelligent choices with this impressively low-budgeted film, and especially its look is original and well-crafted: The coloring is distinctively alive and confusing (in that it throws its audience off morally a few times), the close-ups relentless and very uncomfortable, especially in the first act, and the focus uncommonly sharp throughout. Intense lighting and photography in the action sequences (perhaps filmed at a higher frame rate), - it all makes for a visually vivacious and continually interesting watch. Remarkable as at least 80 % of it takes place within just one single LA-home. Cinematographer Jo Willems (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)) and colorist Jean-Clement Soret (Kon-Tiki (2012) have both done excellent jobs.
After watching Hard Candy, I'm sure a lot of people will be debating it with different experiences, and few will be able to forget it quickly. SPOILER Personally, I feel that both protagonists are sick, and that the swifts in sympathy from one to the other certainly make Hard Candy unique and daring. It is written by Brian Nelson (Devil (2010)).
For a similarly powerful, stylized and modern, low-budget LA-set thriller with sick twists and great performances, look up Nick Tomnay's The Perfect Host (2010), with David Hyde Pierce in his absolute ace in the title role.
If the subject matter makes you want more, I warmly recommend Michael Cuesta's L.I.E. (2001) with Brian Cox and Paul Dano, which is a personal favorite of mine, - and even better than Hard Candy.
Related post:
2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Cost: 0.95 mil. $
Box office: 7 mil. $
= Huge hit (returned 7.36 times the cost)
[Hard Candy premiered 21 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 104 minutes. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, in just 18 days. It opened #48 in 2 theaters to a strong 58k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #20 and in 152 cinemas, grossing 1 mil. $ (14.3 % of the total gross). Its biggest market by far was (curiously) the UK with 3.3 mil. $ (47.1 %), North America was the 2nd biggest, and the 3rd biggest was Spain with 0.8 mil. $ (11.4 %). The film was nominated for a British Independent Spirit award and other received other honors. Slade returned with 30 Days of Night (2007). Wilson returned in Little Children (2006), Page in Mouth to Mouth (2005). Hard Candy is fresh at 68 % with a 6.4/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Hard Candy?
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