MovieChat Forums > Hard Candy (2006) Discussion > Stupidly confusing & pointless

Stupidly confusing & pointless


From the start of the film, it seemed like it was going to be promising. At first I thought Jeff was going to be some sort of serial killer. I also assumed the same thing about Ellen Page's character. The story seemed to be going in an interesting direction. But it quickly fell flat.

The problem with this film is, it's never confirmed if Jeff was a pedophile. And that didn't add any sense of intriguing mystery. It just became annoying. It seemed like the director left that accusation up to the viewer...which was incredibly lame. The story / backstory of Jeff became so pointless and boring. As in for being tied down and facing the threat of castration, nothing happened. It was just a bunch of never ending dragging dialogue. So much hyperbole. Ellen Page's character quickly started to annoy me. And the ending was beyond pointless, as well as confusing. I just didn't get it. The story could've had potential, but went absolutely nowhere. The only credit I give this film was the acting. But unfortunately, not even good acting can save a lame and unsatisfying story.

Maybe I just failed to see the genius behind this film. I wanted to like it. But it's a no for me.

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Jeff was certainly a pedophile. Those photos Hailey found in the safe were pictures of nude girls. One of the pictures reflect in Hailey's eye and you can make out two nude girls. Hailey said "this is officialy sick" so there was probably worse than what you can make out. She later refers to it as "kiddie porn".

Also, did you miss the ending where he admitted that he and this other guy took part in the missing girl's murder and Hailey said she had already did the other guy in and told her about Jeff? She knew Jeff was a bad person from the get go. She may be a psycho, but Jeff is far from innocent. He did lie to her from the beginnng about sharing her interests, such as the Goldfrapp concert.

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I'm not saying Jeff wasn't a pedophile. That was clear from the very beginning. I just hated how the film never confirmed anything. Now obviously, it didn't need to be confirmed through explicit material. I just wished there would've been another way for that to be clarified to the viewer, other than taking Ellen Page's word for it. And better yet, I wished Jeff's demise would've had a different ending, other than a jumping off the roof with a noose on his neck cliff hanger.

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