305 days, 305 films- Hard Candy

Film #6 Hard Candy

Many people will tell you that Juno was Ellen Page‘s breakout roll. I beg to differ; I think Page’s breakout role was playing Hayley in Hard Candy. I just watched the trailer to refresh some of the missing pieces in my memory which only led to my heart rate increasing for the duration of the clip. I  realized then that I forgot how suspenseful this film is.

Why do I think Hard Candy is deserving of your time? Well, for once  Ellen Page is genius in it. She portrays one of the most innocent girls I have ever seen on film. At least for a little while. At the beginning of the film I might have actually yelled out “no don’t go with him, you’re so naive!”. Turns out, I was the one that was so naive. So was  Patrick Wilson‘s character, Jeff Kohlver. Also, the fact that the majority of Hard Candy is shot with only both Page and Wilson reinforces their impeccable acting skills because the duty of capturing the audience falls on, only, them; unlike most of the films labeled “thrillers” out there. For what might be my first time, I actually felt remorse for the bad guy. Want to know why? Check out Hard Candy at your local or cyber video rental store.