I'm surprised that Ellen Page didn't go to some police academy in Canada for her role as Haley in Hard Candy. A deep, controversial and disturbing movie that is different from movies that deal with child molestation. The movie starts with the two characters (Haley and Jeff) talking from separate chatroom to figure out where should these two anonymous people should meet. Haley (Ellen Page) is a 14 year-old teenager while Jeff (Patrick Wilson) is a 32-year-old fashion photographer. These two meet at a coffee shop for some conversating which leads to Jeff taking Haley to his home. She sees his work of the girls that he took pictures of as she realizes these girls aren't old enough to think for themselves. Yet, Haley is smart enough to know that she's dealing with a child molester and drugs him which leads to events that delve deeper into this guy's psyche. I wish their we're more movies like this. The dialogue exchanges between Wilson and Page are great especially with how Page commands her character with such raw emotion that this movie could be considered Oscar worthy. It is quite riveting stuff considering the limitations of the movie. I feel that the writing (by Brian Nelson) compansates both actors and shows their emotions and in this film you see both Wilson and Page develop two estranged beings; by one avenging abused teens and the other well....you get the idea. For a movie produced under a million dollars ($950,000) the cinematography isn't bad either; It uses modified lighting to represent certain sequences. It's a very smart, intense movie that is different from most suspense flicks.
****1/2 out of 5
Pluses: Excellent Dialogue, Interesting Directing and Cinematography, smart writing
Minuses: Not a lot of variety in terms of setting.
Cast:
Patrick Wilson ... Jeff Kohlver
Ellen Page ... Hayley Stark
Sandra Oh ... Judy Tokuda
Odessa Rae ... Janelle Rogers (as Jennifer Holmes)
Produced by
Paul G. Allen .... executive producer
Michael Caldwell .... producer
Ellora Chowdhury .... post producer
Erica Farjo .... associate producer: US
David Higgins .... producer (as David W. Higgins)
Richard Hutton .... producer
Barney Jeffrey .... associate producer: UK
Rosanne Korenberg .... executive producer
Brian Nelson .... co-producer
Jody Patton .... executive producer
Hans C. Ritter .... co-producer (as Hans Ritter)
Alex Webster .... post producer
Original Music by
Harry Escott
Molly Nyman
Cinematography by
Jo Willems (director of photography)
Writing credits
(WGA)
Brian Nelson (written by)
Directed by
David Slade
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