Veronica Mars Movie?

 

We used to be friends, a long time ago.

So it’s been over a year, but it has felt like a lifetime without my favorite crime-fighting female, Veronica Mars (played to perfection by Kristen Bell).  Because of its low rating, the third season ended abruptly and you couldn’t help but wonder where the story could’ve progressed to if it was given the time and opportunity.

Well maybe here’s the chance!  According to Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello, there has been serious talks between VM creator, Rob Thomas, and his starlet, Kristen Bell, about bringing the beloved TV-show to the silver screen.  Here’s the article:  http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2008/08/exclusive-veron.html

My first reaction was pure excitement.  I mean… come on!  A Veronica Mars movie?!  How I’ve been longing to watch the Mars family fend off evil with their quick wit and guerilla tactics for one more time.  I haven’t even checked my house plants to see whether or not they’ve been bugged in months!  But just as Veronica Mars was dying in my memory, this movie talk has revived me of her snooping and prodding.  Oh, and not to mention the LoVe drama withdrawal (though I found myself in the minority by rooting against the LoVe connection… c’mon, Piz was the man!).  Yes… the thought of a Veronica Mars movie blew my mind…

Until I thought about it a little more.  Did you guys watch the preview to what could’ve been the next season where Veronica Mars attended training for the FBI?  I thought it was dreadful.  How would that have worked?  The collaboration of the entire cast and their chemistry together was what made the show something special.  But if Veronica went off to the FBI and left everyone behind, that’s a whole new show.  No Keith, Logan, Piz, Wallace, Weevil, Dick, and the Kanes?  That’s not Veronica Mars!

So basically, as excited I am to hear the news, there is still a lot more to figure out before everything falls into place.  And by then, it’ll be years after the final episode aired.  Veronica probably would be in the FBI and maybe that teaser showing her undercover and bearing a gun will actually be the movie plot.  If that’s the case, then please DO NOT make a Veronica Mars movie.  With such a cult show like this, the expectations would be insanely high and the only direction the film could bring to this franchise is down.  Okay, maybe I’m talking way out of line here.  Heck, maybe the film will be good, but it’s not going to tie all the loose ends together from the past, and if anything, it’ll just be two hours of finally bringing Logan and Veronica together.  That might be what most people want to see, but not me.  I want to be alongside Veronica during another noir-style mystery with so many twists and turns to make my head spin.  Unfortunately, I’m afraid that ship sailed a long time ago.

There’s nothing sweet about Hard Candy

Hard Candy (2005)
103 minutes
Rated – R
Directed By: David Slade
Starring:  Ellen Page, Patrick Wilson, Sandra Oh

 

 

Grade:  B

 

A slasher film?  Psychological thriller?  A twisted fantasy?  A wake up call to parents who don’t know the power of the Internet and the access it gives to online predators?  Yes.  All of the above.

Hard Candy is David Slade’s feature debut and although it’s not a great film, it’s certainly one that will stir up discussion.  This also showcases Ellen Page (who is widely known for the recent Juno) in one of her first starring roles.  If your image of Page is that quirky and witty pregnant teenager, then wait to you see her in this.

A handsome and slick-talking 32-year-old man named Jeff (Patrick Wilson) talks to a flirtatious, 14-year-old girl named Hayley (Ellen Page, who was 17 at the time) online.  They mutually decide to meet at a coffee shop, and then they go back to Jeff’s place.  Uh oh.  I see where this is going, but the thing is that I really didn’t.  

The beginning of the movie is as well made and intriguing as any other great thrillers.  We question whether or not the seemingly inevitable will happen, which truly we’re hoping won’t.  But as events fold, we just keep inching closer and closer to something we don’t want to see:  the adult photographer with the little girl, alone in his home.

But then the movie really does something spectacular.  As if my innuendos didn’t raise awareness that something memorable was about to occur, I cannot continue the plot summary without spoiling the movie.  

What I can say is how this very low-budget film, consisting of two main characters that are indulged in explicit and overpowering dialogue, was suspenseful from the beginning to end.  You find out that Hayley is years younger than what her intelligence shows, though she displays the naivety of youth throughout as well.  And Jeff, is he just playing the innocent card just so he can carry on his perverted fantasy, or is it vise versa?

Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson give extraordinary performances throughout.  The screenplay, written by Brian Nelson, is paced very well and gives this movie all the right turns up to the conclusion.  In a time when MySpace has opened doors and new opportunities to pedophiles, Hard Candy is a reminder to all perverts out there that people are always watching.

But the question that I was left with once the movie was over was:  Who was the victim?  And also, did I feel bad or should I feel bad for what happened?  I still don’t know.