28 from Glasgow, love films - so you'll probably only ever see me write about them lol
28 from Glasgow, love films - so you'll probably only ever see me write about them lol
Member since:08.03.2004
Reviews:116
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Jeff Kohlver is a successful photographer who lives by himself and has a penchant for teenage girls on chatrooms. His walls are covered in poses that he has taken of aspiring models who might or might not be jailbait age. When he chats to clever Hayley, aged 14, he arranges to meet her in a coffee house. She is seemingly impressed by his knowledge of the bands and literature that is relevant to her, and agrees to go home with him. They both seem to follow all the rules that apply, he encourages her to let her sister know where she is, she refuses to let him mix her drinks for her. Its a shame he didn't apply those rules for himself, because a time later he wakes up from a drugged stupor tied to a chair. What seems to begin as a game of control on her part soon takes a sinister turn as revenge becomes the key to the story.
This film relies on the performances of its two leads (who are two of only four characters to appear in the film), as most of the action takes a back seat until the last few minutes. Setting up Patrick Wilson as the letcherous twenty-something paedophile, sympathies soon change as it becomes clear that there is more to Hayley than initially meets the eye. Patrick Wilson is blinding in his role as he starts off the film bug-eyed and creepy, but then becoming a sympathetic character who almost has you routing for him to win. Ellen Page is equally good, switching flawlessly between wide eyed awe-struck teenager and rage-induced psychopath. The reason that you can sympathise with both characters, despite the henious depths of Jeff's potential crimes is due to the quality of the material and the writing as much as it is the acting. The director plays havoc with your senses, pulling back and forth around the tight set and giving you an air of claustrophobia. There are moments where it all seems rather far-fetched, but it culminates in a brilliantly filmed tense 90 minutes of film that will have your eyes watering more than once, as well as shouting at the screen for the victim and the villian (which is which isn't always clear) in equal turns. The biggest crime of the film though has to be the complete underuse of Grey's Antomy star Sandra Oh, who is thrown away on one pointless scene which could have been the setting up of an alternative and equally interesting finale.
There is a great little documentary on the extra section which allows the director and a few of the crew to take you through the progression of the film, and talk about how the material came about. There's not much to the extra's, but its great to see a low budget thriller so well made and dealing effectively with a subject matter that a lot of directors would shy away from. The DVD is available from online retailers and high street stores.
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A smart, charming teenage girl, Hayley (Ellen Page) probably shouldn't be going to a local ... more
coffee shop to meet Jeff (Patrick Wilson), a 30-something fashion photographer she met on the Internet. But before she knows it, she's mixing drinks at Jeff's pl...
A smart and charming teenage girl Hayley probably shouldn't be going to a local coffee ... more
shop to meet Jeff a 30 something fashion photographer she met on the internet. But before she knows it she's mixing drinks at Jeff's place and stripping off for a...
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![Hard Candy [DVD] [2006]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78477735.jpg "Hard Candy [DVD] [2006]")
Jan 3rd, 2007
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