thomas4cinema

Of course the expected things happen in this film: reversal of roles (the potential child molester becomes the victim, becomes the child molester – the potential victim becomes the avenging angel becomes the psychopath), and reversal of fortunes (he is caught, he escapes, he is caught again, he escapes in more than just one way, he is caught without being tied down at last). That is very stylishly presented, with a nice setting (apparently, a lot of thinking went into the colouring of the apartment) and Patrick Wilson (whom I think I have not seen before) in the midst if it as (apart from everything else) a man in the web of a mad spider. Whether one needs to dwell into reflections on the morale of the plot line… I think better not, because that thing is better taken as a cringer, a leg-cringer in a way, and interestingly works as such very well even at second viewing, which I happened to do while listening to the (not too interesting) director’s audio commentary that comes on the DVD (which has quite a nice cover, I have to say, even though the symbolism is a bit overdone).

Ellen Page received much praise for her acting. I liked it, too (and she is a really pleasant watch, too), but I found it a wee bit overdone and overcool and oversweet (candy… get it?) at times. The explanation for her behaving the way she does and talking and playing the way she does may have to do with her “SECRET PAST”, but as long as nobody tells me whether there is such a “SECRET PAST” or not and what that “SECRET PAST” would be I just think her part is a bit over-designed.

The whole logic is far from being credible, is far from being plausible, too, but some dialogues and some surgical procedures are quite entertaining. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424136/
Guardian: http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Observer_Film_of_the_week/0,,1800169,00.html

RT: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hard_candy/