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No Good Guys...

Saturday, 08 January 2011 04:00

By Norm De Plume

Movie Review - If you like movies with happy endings or the ones where Good triumphs over Evil, DON'T RENT the 2005 psychological thriller Hard Candy. Know right up front, there are no good guys in this twisted character study.

But, if you love world class acting AND can handle difficult, sometimes totally yucky, subject matter, then by all means rent this movie.

The themes of this film are pedophilia, revenge, rage and torture. Good turbo training fare? Not sure. At the end of this movie, one Evil is vanquished by another Evil. Is it up to the viewer to decide which one was worse? No. If in the end you find yourself siding with either the victimizer-turned-victim or his diabolically ingenius revenge-seeking torturer, then we suggest to get professional help as soon as possible. Seriously....

Eighteen-year-old Ellen Page was absolutely brilliant as 14-year-old Hayley, who plots and executes the downfall of a local pedophile. She proves here, as she also did in Juno and Whip It, that she is one of the most talented actors working today. Patrick Wilson does a fine job in the role of sicko photographer/diddler Jeff Kohlver.

The screenplay, dialogue and editing are inspired.

This was a very well-made and acted movie that I will never see again. This subject matter is just too oogie.