Sugar and spice but not so nice
Director: David Slade
Starring: Patrick Wilson, Ellen Page
Running Time: 103 mins
Classifcation: 18
There is something about first time directors that fills critics with dread, especially when they arrive fresh from the MTV stockpile. Think of Charlie’s Angels director and music video hothead McG and you see what I mean. Of course, this is my no means a definitive trend. Every so often the mould gets broken. Mark Romanek made his break with the brilliant One Hour Photo, and it seems David Slade has done the same with Hard Candy.
The story, which is suspiciously reminiscent of Vladmir Nabokov’s infamous novel Lolita, revolves around a lonely thirty-something photographer Jeff Kohlver (played by Patrick Wilson) and Hayley Stark, a mature fourteen year old girl (played by Ellen Page). It follows their growing relationship over an internet chat room, and straight from the outset, we know that this story can’t end well, and it seems this could very quickly become Lolita for the 21st century.
The expository sequence opens up the ominous – if slightly contrived – narrative faultlessly. The claustrophobic camerawork and creepily convincing performance from Patrick Wilson – a relative unknown at the moment – give the film that all essential boost from standard horror/slasher fare to something worth paying attention to.
The relationship between Wilson and Page is built with a confident sense of style both in acting and cinematographic terms. The delivery in both performances is flawless, and to an extent, the films saving grace. As you would expect, things do not stay very innocent for long, and it is but a brief twenty minute introduction before the issue of paedophilia begins to raise its head.
Pushing the bounds
Hayely, wise beyond her years, soon cottons on the fact that all is not right, but not until she has stripped off for a photo-shoot in Jeff’s house. And here begins the films decline. What began as a methodical, creepy exploration into the psychology of paedophilia, rapidly turns into just another revenge film. Don’t get me wrong, the remaining seventy minutes are by no means a bore, and do testify as an example of essentially mainstream film pushing the boundaries of taste and decency, even if Slade’s lingering gaze on Jeff’s torture does become a little much.
There is no question that Hard Candy raises some important issues and on the surface there is very little wrong with this film. Considering that the entire duration relies pretty much entirely on the two lead performances, the acting standard is an achievement in itself, but in the end, Hard Candy suffers from the same suffocating challenge as so many other films of this nature, the challenge to be original. The narrative that began with such style and grace, despite its subject matter, starts to become crushed under the weight of its own contrivance.
By the films climax, I was left with the faintest feeling of disappointment, as I imagined what this film could have been and what it came so close to being. Nevertheless, Hard Candy is still a lot better than myriad movies out there, and I’m glad that it hasn’t been ignored, as it won best film and best screenplay at the Catalonian International Film Festival.
3/5 Begins with style and grace but turns into another revenge film. Remains worthy viewing.