Hard Candy (2005)

A teenage girl raids a man's home, suspecting he is a pedophile, in order to expose him.

Director:

David Slade

Writer:

Brian Nelson

Stars:

Patrick Wilson, Ellen Page, Sandra Oh

5 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Patrick Wilson	...	Jeff Kohlver
Ellen Page	...	Hayley Stark
Sandra Oh	...	Judy Tokuda
Odessa Rae	...	Janelle Rogers (as Jennifer Holmes)
G.J. Echternkamp	...	Nighthawks Clerk (as Gilbert John)

Storyline

After three weeks of chatting with the thirty-two year old photographer Jeff Kohlver over the Internet, fourteen year old Hayley Stark meets him in the Nighthawks coffee shop. Hayley flirts with him in spite of the age difference and proposes to go to his house. Once there, she prepares a screwdriver for them and Jeff passes out. When he awakes, he is tied up to a chair, and Hayley accuses him of pedophilia. Jeff denies the accusation, and Hayley begins to torture him in a cat and mouse game.

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Plot Keywords:

coffee shop | pedophile | chatting | age difference | photographer | 

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Taglines:

Strangers shouldn't talk to little girls.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent and aberrant sexual content involving a teen, and for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 May 2006 (Spain)

Also Known As:

Gorki slatkiš

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$950,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£527,910 (UK) (16 June 2006)

Gross:

£1,728,022 (UK) (7 July 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vulcan Productions, Launchpad Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Some working titles were "Vendetta" and "Snip Snip". "Hard Candy" was finally chosen because it implies both sweetness and spice. The expression is also slang for an under-aged girl, amongst pedophiles who troll the internet.

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Goofs

Hayley isn't seen changing the ice, yet the bag appears full when ever lifted without the bottom being dominated by melted ice (better known as water), also for as long as the ice had been sitting on his lap, you would think that there would be a distinct discoloration, but there isn't.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Hayley Stark: Mmm. This is soo good. I want more.
Jeff Kohlver: Don't get greedy.

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Connections

Featured in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #18.86 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Freak"
Written and Produced by Mark Bell
Performed by LFO
Published by Warp Music
Courtesy of Warp Records
Used by Permission of EMI Virgin Music, Inc.

User Reviews

worth seeing

I just screened this film at LGF last night. I was quite intrigued for the first forty minutes. Then it all kind of fell apart for me. In it's best moments this film explores the complexities of vengeance and psychology. It tries to be clever by pulling a role reversal -- but this eventually wears thin and the dialog becomes didactic and contrived. I still think it is worth seeing for the strength of the leads alone. Patrick Wilson does a fine job as a "suspected" pedophile. He elicits both sympathy and disgust. Ellen Page as the young girl is absolutely fantastic. Her performance is brilliant and even frightening at times. She's good even when the script can't match her talent. I look forward to seeing her in many films to come. Finally a young actress who is more than just a pretty face -- I'm so tired of the Natalie Portmans, the Hillary Duffs, and the Jessica Albas of the world. Good luck with your career Ms. Page.

All in all, Hard Candy is worth seeing. Maybe I'm just a sucker for movies with tiny casts and realtime pacing. But there are some genuinely suspenseful moments in the film, although in the hands of lesser actors these scenes would disintegrate. And though I was annoyed by the contrivances and implausibilities of the script, I found myself the next day thinking about some of the issues raised therein.

At times Hard Candy reminded me of Polanski's Death and the Maiden, though H.C. is nowhere near as good. Ellen Page's Haley character is similar to Sigourney Weaver's character in the Polanski film. Both women are terrifying through the cold precision of their revenge. The problem with the Haley character is that she would have to be supernatural to accomplish the things she does in this film. And of course if she was supernatural, we'd have a completely different film on our hands -- High Plains Drifter.