Candy (2006)

Aside from the Dark Knight, Hard Candy is one of Heath Ledger's strongest performances. This is an eccentric picture that tells an engaging story about addiction. Brilliantly acted and directed, Hard Candy is a fine picture that showcases Ledger's talents perfectly. The story is well constructed and it is a film that is hard to forget. With effective performances, this is a must see for any film lover who enjoys a powerful film that delivers an entertaining drama. The direction is very well done, and overall I really enjoyed the film despite the fact that in some areas, the film could have been better. However, Ledger's performance keeps things together and like I said, he does some terrific work here. I really thought that this was one of his best performances right up until his final role as the Joker. This is a raw, gritty in your face portrayal of addiction, and it shows us the costs of using. This is a film that is hard to get into due to its subject, but it is nonetheless a roller coaster ride into madness that you won't forget. In terms of a drama, Candy is one of those films that doesn't shy away from its subject that it displays on-screen. The cast keep you involved and it is a film well worth seeing. I thought the film was well made, but it is not a film that warrants multiple viewings, and it will stick with you for a while long after you've seen it. Candy has its imperfections, but its strengths lie within its subject matter and its raw, intense delivery of its performances from the cast.

Candy is a poetic yet very raw and no-nonsense portrait of drug addiction, as lived by Daniel and Candace. Both are very much in love with each other and carry idealistic existences in which drugs play a very central role. As is to be expected, everything is gold-showered an sugar-coated and whatnot during the first months of their relationship: they have money, they love each other, and since they haven't tried to stop using they don't see how difficult it will be. As Candy and Daniel start settling down and spending more time with each other and atempting to build a life, their addiction starts looking like a problem that will make them humilliate themselves for money, and humilliate each other when the pain is so big that they just have to take it out on the other. The chemistry between Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish is reason #1 so watch this film. Together they are intoxicating, epic, and yet beleivable. Individually, the performances are powerful and heatbreaking: Candy's transformtion from a sweet idealist who dabbles in drugs for fun to an angry addict whose hate towards the world surfaces when she is out of money is chilling. Heath Ledger's character might be less aggressive, but even when he is at his most subdued Ledger manages to communicate his state of mind to us. He adores Candy more than drugs, and that is a lot to say, but he's absolutely hopeless at anything else. The story itself is nothing new- the message has already been spoken both by Trainspotting and Requiem for a Dream: drugs are fun in the beginning but then awful things start to happen. But Candy brings that universal problem to a very small and intimate scale, in which drug addiction has the same effect on a loving relationship as would an bomb if it fell on their house. Candy doesn't glamorize drug use, yet it doesn't use any tricks to make it more dramatic, but it often makes use of poetry voice-overs and melancholy, hazy cinematography to create an atmosphere that is between hallucination and reality. The film succeeds at making people care, hate, worry, pity Candy and Daniel, and that is mainly because of the excellent lead performances. Any fan of Heath Ledger should watch Candy, as should anyone who wants to watch a good performance-driven film.