Hard Candy

[MacGuffin]

Pretty much agree with samsong and matt, but walked away from it like GB did.

*SOME SPOILERS*


The film gave no sense of realism at all. The dialogue felt staged and wordy. The operation scene went so far, you knew she was just fuckin' with him because it came off as a simple harmless procedure.

I couldn't understand which side the film wanted me to be on. Maybe that was the point, but it did a poor job of executing that since there was no give and take in the film. It only gave her side and she showed no vunerability; whatever he dished out, she had an answer for. The film only makes us sympathize with him, not because we see and understand his side, but because of how crazy she is that I think we all wanted him to break free and shut her up in some way.

I hated Page's character and how she played her. And the women tortured in the Saw films, for example, resist and put up a fight far greater than Wilson's character did; he was ridiculously calm for what was being done to him throughout.

The film would have been SO MUCH better if a modern day (re-)telling of Mamet's Oleanna was the model for the script, but instead the ending which turns the film into a revenge movie completely takes away whatever statement the film was trying to make about pedophilia.

[modage]

i liked it.  i admire what they were able to do with no budget in one of the better sundancey movies i've seen in a while.  two great performances in what is essentially a play, BUT the way it was shot (and COLORED) i think it earned its right to be a film.  the big scene was one of the most tense experiences i've had in a while.  its a good rental. 

[socketlevel]

i liked it.  i admire what they were able to do with no budget in one of the better sundancey movies i've seen in a while.  two great performances in what is essentially a play, BUT the way it was shot (and COLORED) i think it earned its right to be a film.  the big scene was one of the most tense experiences i've had in a while.  its a good rental. 

i agree, just saw it last night and was on the edge of my seat.  i watched the special features after the film and the producer said he was looking for a playwrite when he came up with the idea.  this may address some of the issues brought up on this thread.  i thought both of the performaces were great, yes over the top, but what the story needed.  if this was done too realistic i think the message/intent would have been lost because it would have been too off-putting.  it plays out like a stage production, and i liked that element.

i also like how there is no clear cut bad guy in this film.  i was constantly wondering if he deserved it (in some saddistic revenge kinda way) or if she was just fucking nuts.  there is clearly no good guys, and i recognize the male lead is a horrible man, but the choice of making him charismatic, while the girl was the opposite, was very interesting.  it helps break the polarizing effect the topic normally has, which leaves you a little jaded.  the girl's performance is true anti-hero in the most literal sense of the term.  i really liked it.

-sl-