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Title: Hard to swallow
Review: This visually spare movie has a very theatrical feel; it's shot almost entirely on a single set and has just three cast members. The performances of the two main actors are riveting and provide 90 minutes of compelling viewing. And it's these performances alone that make the film worth watching.Sadly, Hard Candy is simply too implausible and exploitative to be of any real value. Page's character is far more resourceful, remorseless, relentless, and self-assured than any 14-year-old. Her morality, which is pivotal, becomes increasingly ambiguous as the film progresses, and the violence, although it mostly takes place out of shot, verges uncomfortably close to torture porn, displacing any message that might have been intended, and polarising the viewer's sympathies. The shock tactics used here, which would be perfectly acceptable in a horror vehicle, are out of place in a film such as this.
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