Here's a link to an article in the Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2005/02/01/hard_candy_leaves_sundance_bitterly_divided/ And here are the first few paragraphs...
'Hard Candy' leaves Sundance bitterly divided
By Ty Burr, Globe Staff | February 1, 2005
PARK CITY, Utah -- While the Sundance Film Festival prides itself on showcasing cutting-edge independent cinema, the truth is you can count the films that actually draw blood -- that make people uncomfortable and angry -- on the fingers of one hand.
This year you could count them on one finger. By the middle of last week, David Slade's "Hard Candy" had become the word-of-mouth don't-see buzz movie, sending audiences out of Park City theaters in a distressed rage. During one post-screening Q&A session, a man in the audience stood and, quivering with anger, read off a diatribe from notes he had written during the film. Even the youthful festival volunteers turned against it. "Dude, I saw that thing," warned one ticket taker, overhearing a couple in line discussing whether they should see "Hard Candy." "Stay away. I mean it: Stay away." One publicist -- a man whose job it is to talk up movies -- refused to discuss the film at all.
All this testifies to something the film does right rather than wrong. Based on a script by Brian Nelson, "Hard Candy" begins as a carefree drama about a 32-year-old fashion photographer named Geoff (Patrick Wilson) and a 14-year-old girl named Hayley (Ellen Page). They have met and flirted on the Internet; now they are meeting in real life, or "RL," at a coffee shop in Los Angeles, after which they return to his house in the Hollywood hills. Despite the age difference, they seem evenly matched, with similar tastes in music and a knack for mildly racy banter.
So far, so disturbing. But "Hard Candy" subsequently takes a left turn into an altogether different movie -- one that owes as much to horror and suspense as to social-message melodrama -- and it is that movie that divided audiences. Without giving away too much, I can say that Geoff finds himself in what may be every man's absolute worst-case scenario, while Hayley reveals herself to have many more sides to her character than first suspected.
As the film turns into a battle of wills, it addresses any number of subjects: forbidden desire, social masks, child pornography versus the more "acceptable" grown-up kind, the hazy line between thought and action. Most remarkable is the way "Hard Candy" pushes different buttons for men and women in the audience. The film has an allegorical aspect -- with the exception of Sandra Oh as a nosy neighbor and a few other actors, Wilson and Page (who arrives as an actress of tremendous skill and depth) are the only people onscreen -- and while director Slade doesn't always play fair, he does play for keeps.
There will be further controversy when the film reaches general audiences; this became a certainty after Lions Gate Films Releasing bought distribution rights during the festival for about $4 million. The company intends to release the film sometime in the second half of this year. " 'Hard Candy' will shock many people, but I think that's a good thing," said Tom Ortenberg, president of Lions Gate, in a phone interview during the festival. "It'll make people think: What if this was you, what if this was your daughter, what's wrong and what's right, how far is too far?"
There's more on page 2 of the article...
Where are we going, and why am I in this handbasket?
Patrick Wilson Fans
--New "UnOfficial Fan Site". Come check us out!
Patrick Wilson Yahoo Group
Patrick Wilson Facebook Fan Page
.gif?width=300)
