I Want Candy (2007)

Joe and Baggy are two misfit English film school students whose first movie goes awry. Desperate to finance their flick, they turn to a porn producer who agrees to give them the money ... See full summary »

Director:

Stephen Surjik

Writers:

Peter Hewitt, Phil Hughes,

Stars:

Tom Riley, Tom Burke, Carmen Electra

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Riley	...	Joe Clarke
Tom Burke	...	John 'Baggy' Bagley
Carmen Electra	...	Candy Fiveways
Eddie Marsan	...	Doug Perry
Michelle Ryan	...	Lila Owens
Mackenzie Crook	...	Dulberg
Felicity Montagu	...	Val, Joe's Mum
Philip Jackson	...	Stephen, Joe's Dad
Jimmy Carr	...	Video Store Guy
John Standing	...	Michael de Vere
Carl Prekopp	...	Vlad
Rasmus Hardiker	...	Christi
Colin Michael Carmichael	...	Gabi
Stephanie Blacker	...	Tiffany Thomas
Giles Alderson	...	Carl (as Giles Anderson)

Storyline

Joe and Baggy are two misfit English film school students whose first movie goes awry. Desperate to finance their flick, they turn to a porn producer who agrees to give them the money needed in exchanges for the guys to cast a semi-retired adult film star named Candy (Carmen Electra). Though Candy agrees to the deal, but Joe and Baggy's efforts to make their own movie morphs into a raunchy show which they use Joe's suburban parents house as their set.

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Plot Keywords:

film school | film crew | film financing | film student | film making | 

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Taglines:

They're making a movie... And it's gone pear-shaped!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 March 2007 (UK)

Also Known As:

American Candy

Filming Locations:

Brooklands College, Weybridge, Surrey, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

£1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£349,301 (UK) (23 March 2007)

Gross:

£730,452 (UK) (30 March 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Thema Production, Ealing Studios, Grovesnor Park Film

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min 85 min (European Film Market)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Joe Clarke: Dad Vlad, Vlad Dad.

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Connections

References The Big Chill (1983)

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Soundtracks

"Ain't It Good"
Written by Steve Isles

User Reviews

Unoriginal but funny comedy

Released between 300 and Mr.Bean's Holiday, this British production never really had a chance at the Box-Office despite a clever plot, amusing trailer and presence of sex siren Carmen Electra. The film didn't score to well with critics either, comments such as "It's a dire sex comedy" and "a crude, leering poorly timed farce" where pretty much commen place. Still is the film bad enough to warrant a battering on all fronts (no pun intended)? The answer is no. The plot is a clever enough little idea, two geeky film students in attempting to sell a film pitch end up agreeing to make a porn flick for the wrong people. They are offered the service of Candy Fiveways (Carmen Electra) the worlds most famous adult film star, but even with this supposed blessing, they still have to defeat the obstacles that include suspicious parents, a lack of cash and their general inexperience behind the camera. I want Candy is still waiting on a US release and so marks one of few films we get first. The film is heavily flawed but there's a charm that carry's this picture and despite being a movie with more sex toys, lesbian love scenes and innuendos than you can count it's really quite good natured. The young cast are pretty solid and whilst I don't expect to see either Tom Burke or Tom Riley become the next Hugh Grant, both might just manage in this business. Both convey a sense of excitement and dread concerning their problem, but overall the balance really feels quite nice and realistic. More often than not we are encouraged to laugh at the pratfalls Tom and err...Tom find themselves drawn into. That grows harder as the picture goes on, indeed the audience felt a lot of sympathey for the two lads on more than one occasion, and that can get in the way of belly laughter. Electra doesn't really have any acting chops to stretch but the former Baywatch babe is a likable candy, a women who despite her career and physical attributes is intelligent and something of a film buff. In many ways Electra grounds the picture and offers as many good jokes as anybody else, probably around half a dozen or so. Pirates Of The Caribbean star MacKenzie Crook offers up a few decent chuckles as the boys teacher, and Jimmy Carr manages a neat cameo as a dodgy video store clerk. The script is a bit hit and miss particularly during the middle section of the movie, I found myself laughing more at the beginning and end. That's not so say the script isn't inspired in sections, I really was caught off guard by several of the gags but to many jokes where predictable and a fair bit of the material feels recycled. Director Stephen Surjik who directed the second and vastly weaker Wayne's Worlds should be pleased enough with the final outcome, it matches anything else on his CV in terms of quality. The production looks pretty cheap and I expect the explanation for this is also the simplest. The film can't have been made on a mega budget, indeed with US release still uncertain it's fair to say the amount of money pumped in could well be miniscule. The cinematography is weak and the film looks made for T.V, which will always distract no matter how sharp a script the film boasts. The film is bound to have a lot of people recoiling in their seats as the cringe inducing scenarios pile up. Having to listen to your mum and dad having sex whilst your locked in their en suite may be bad, but thats only a fraction of the embarrassment the boys have to suffer. Last year I watched a movie called The Moguls which starred Jeff Bridges and had a similar plot to this project. I Want Candy emerges as far the better flick, and so anybody who got a kick out the first film will almost certainly enjoy this one.