Well this morning I was told my class was going to watch a film called 'Hard candy' as an assignment relating to sexual abuse. The thought of a sexual abuse themed film wasn't exciting. I know a film with this theme, or as one of the themes can be successful as seen in 'Gone, Baby, Gone'. This film stars the 'Juno' star Ellen Page as the young girl. Her performance in this film is indeed a good one. The film's problem is definitely not the acting, and the story was probably portrayed correctly on film. The problem for me was the interest in story and the coated man-hater theme. Maybe it wasn't man-hater, but it was definitely full of girl-power.I don't need to be told how bad sexual abuse in any manner is, especially the justification for retribution in this film. This film easily bothered the heavy majority of males who saw it along with myself. It is really hard to give a non-bias critique after being so bothered by the film.
The suspense of the film was its biggest success, but it was just too intense. It was like trying to open a gift you know has a deadly snake inside. No matter how you open it, you just aren't comfortable doing it, and if you knew the end result of this film, you probably wouldn't have bothered.
Unlike some, this one just isn't aided by controversy. I read one review which said, "You can sense that it wants to be talked about more than it wants to actually say anything", and I fully agree.
Overall I would recommend passing on this pile.
"Hard Candy"
5/10
