Hard Candy

Strangers shouldn't talk to little girls.

14-year old Hayley seems to be the epitome of a vigilante psychotic girl. From beginning to end, she plays a ruthless, intelligent, in control psychopath. And normally, it's not the psychos you root for.  But that is exactly the case in this movie.

I first off would say, brilliantly written. I'm not sure if it was written dialogue, or Ellen Page's witty sense of dialect that left me impressed. And with only two actors in the film, impressing the audience isn't an easy thing to do. 

Playing herself off as bait for a man she suspects to not only be a pedophile, but also a killer. Absolutely brilliant, telling him lies in an online chatroom for three weeks, getting him to believe nothing but lies. And in the end, he never really knew the girl he invited into his house. 

Hayley - planning her attack from beginning to end, even the small instances where Jeff (Patrick Wilson) gets away were planned. She tests him repeatedly, searches his house, and finds the evidence she needs to prove he is who she thinks he is. 

And after all she does to him, drugs him, plays with his mind, pretends to cut off his testicles, were all really workings to get him to hang himself, just like she had already gotten his accomplice to do. Once he finally has a rope around his neck - she promises she'll hide the evidence, making him die just as a sad man.

But she will keep no such promise.

Now, how this girl will function in normal society, is beyond me. She's obviously psychotic to some extent. Granted, I would have no such problem killing a pedophile, her planning and methods were precise and measured. More than any normal person could've fathomed. 

All in all, both actors were brilliant, portraying two strange people is no easy task, but they worked well together, bringing an intense dramatic film to life. 

Rating: R
Year: 2005
Actors: Patrick Wilson, Ellen Page