Lured in with "Hard Candy" (2005)

"Why don't you have a seat over there?". These are the words dreaded by every pedophile caught by the police and their trusty sidekick Chris Hansen. Now I don't think I'm the only one that enjoyed NBC's "To Catch a Predator". And I'm not entirely sure if this was the show that sparked the idea in David Slade's movie. But it is really hard not to make that initial connection. Interestingly enough, "Hard Candy" is one of Ellen Page's earlier work, and I am slowly becoming fond of her work.


The movie starts off like any other day of Roman Polanski, where a 14 year old girl Haley (Page) is talking flirtatious to a more older gentlemen by the name of Jeff (Patrick Wilson). As they meet up at a local coffee shop, we find out that Jeff is in his early 30's but does not appear to be all that creepy looking. As the two flirt some more, Haley proposes they go to Jeff's house. As the two arrive at Jeff's house, Jeff explains more about his life as a photographer. After a few drinks, Haley convinces Jeff to take a few pictures, but Jeff feels dizzy and passes out. Waking up tied to a chair could be a fantasy of Jeff's but in this case Haley confesses to slipping in some roofies in Jeff's drink. Now she has a plan for Jeff, torture one would call it. She calls it redemption and preventative measurements so he wouldn't be able to hurt another young girl ever again.

He seems trustworthy, right?

Yeah you heard it right, the young 14 year old girl lures in the older guy to torture him. The whole premise of this movie is sort of twisted but in a really cool way. I mean, I never want to be in this situation but to think about how backwards this is. It's kind of like luring in pedo's with a black panel van marked "Free Kids". Than again I'm pretty sure in Soviet Russia, kids lure pedophiles.

Back to the movie, two things really stuck out for me. First thing, how unbelievably great both Page and Wilson are in this movie together. I almost felt bad for Wilson while he was getting tortured, even though I should never cheer on the pedo. Nevertheless, he was charming and great on screen. Even better when he goes through all the stages of being taken hostage. Depressed, apologetic and super angry. But most impressive was Page. Her role as a cute, manipulative pre-pubescent girl was strikingly good. She remains this cold, sarcastic psychopath all the way through the movie. It's almost scary how well she plays this, almost makes you wonder.

Too bad it's her that you should worry about.

Secondly, I want to bring up the dark theme of the movie. There is a good number of times that I felt real uncomfortable watching this. It wasn't even the castration that caught me off guard, it was the idea of suicide, paedophilia and rape that really made this hard to watch. Though these are the real off the block idea's I seek in movies at times. Hollywood gets predictable at times, which can be nice if you want to watch a movie with your mother. But there are times when I want to be creeped out, that is why watching those gore movies kind of gets more rocks off, in the non-weird way.

In the end, I liked the movie. It has roles from two great actors and a compelling story line. And that may be the reasons this movie should be watched. The performances of Page and Wilson are out of this world. And the whole movie took me on a roller coaster of a ride. With every build up and drop, the movie got more intense until the end. It isn't what you normally expect in a movie but sometimes we need the snow globe we live in to be shaken up. If you are in for a movie that might step outside the boundaries of social norm, "Hard Candy" should be a movie somewhere near the top of your list.