Hard Candy
Hard Candy is the story of a seemingly innocent teenage girl who meets a man online. The girl (played by a very capable Ellen Page) plans to meet up with the man (equally matched by Patrick Wilson) presumably for sex. After they meet up at a coffee shop, Jeff (Wilson) invites Hayley (Page) to his house. While at first it shows Hayley being the victim, once the characters arrive at Jeff's house, things get turned upside down. As the movie progresses, the character both switch from playing one character to playing a character with a completely different personality. Page really flexes her acting chops, showing that she knows how to play a innocent young girl and a young woman with a dark secret. Wilson also knows how to play a character with such conflicting emotions. The movie really shines when the story gets flipped and the actors really dive into their characters. For this reason, I give the movie a rating of 4.5.
Juno
Juno tells the story of a teenager who finds out that she's pregnant. Rather than getting wrapped up in the emotions of pregnancy, Juno (Page) approaches the situation with a good sense of humor. The father of the child, Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) isn't the stereotypical babydaddy, and while Juno deals with being a new mother, Bleeker has virtually no role as a father save for the beginning of the movie. The movie reaches new heights of funny, thanks to a spot on script by Diablo Cody (for which she won an Oscar) and Page delivers her lines perfect. Other bright spots are Juno's happy-go-lucky father (J.K. Simmons) and the soundtrack. Overall I rate the movie 4.
Average Rating for Ellen Page: 4.25
Definitely a good move keeping the text white...your other posts were a bit hard to read.
ReplyDeleteReading the concept for your blog, I was expecting a bit more in depth look into the individual actors' lives and careers. I think this formula is working much better though- focusing on the plot and performance in key roles they've played and discussing the films on the whole.