ThiefHott Too much of everything

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Glimmerubro It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.

Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

ben hibburd Hardcore is Paul Schrader's lurid odyssey into the seedy underbelly of pornography and prostitution in 1970's California. George C. Scott stars a conservative midwestern businessman who searches every street corner and dirty back alley in search of his missing teenage daughter whose started appearing in porno films.Coming off the success of writing Martin Scorsese's masterpiece Taxi Driver, this film is essentially a B movie companion piece. Hardcore is a well written slow burn that has become slightly dated, but still manages to retain its potent commentary on the dark side of the City of Angels.George C. Scott gives a tour de force performance as the religious calvinist Jake Van Dorn, Scott gives an earnest performance as a man willing to bend his moral compass in the slim hopes of finding his daughter. Whilst in the process of finding his daughter he hires the expertise of a slimy private investigator played Peter Boyle. Boyle once again gives an excellent understated performance, it's a shame Boyle never got the leading roles his talent deserved.Hardcore is an excellent thriller which has some pacing issues and it also occasionally tonally riffs off Taxi Driver, especially in the last act. Other than that Hardcore is an uncompromising thriller that's supported by excellent writing a wonderful central performance from George C. Scott.

Steve Pulaski Paul Schrader's Hardcore features a rare performance that tows the fine line between believable lunacy and cartoonish behavior that never crosses over and subjects itself to the latter. The performance is that of George C. Scott, who plays Jake Van Dorn, a Calvinist businessman working in Michigan and serving as a single-parent to his eighteen-year-old daughter Kristen. While presumably on a church retreat to Bellflower, California, Kristen never arrives at the event, leading Jake to hire a private investigator (Peter Boyle) to try and find her whereabouts. Eventually, the investigator finds an 8mm film of his daughter and two other men around her age; it's clear just from the first frame of the film, which Jake sees at a local seedy theater, his daughter is now a porn star.Jake loses it, with enough questions, assumptions, judgments, and miscalculations racing through his mind to cripple the psyche of a dozen men. He comes to the conclusion that his daughter had to have been kidnapped to join such an underworld, and becomes dedicated to bringing her back home. He dives into California's sleazy, pornographic underworld, venturing through brothels, adult bookstores, and peep shows to find her, eventually meeting Nikki (Season Hubley), a porn star and hooker.Hardcore is the classic case of a character being immersed in a world he had no conception of and would've rather gone on pretending as if the world and all of those affected by it never existed. His tunnel-vision, conservative mindset has made it seem that since everything in his own life was perfect and completely free of any trouble, that there's no way anyone else's life could be troubled. He doesn't see problems, therefore none exist.Jake's rude awakening becomes more alarming with what he has to witness. To many audience members, presuming their braveness to already seek out such a peculiar film, the content in Hardcore isn't particularly jolting, but to Jake, it's some of the most revolting stuff he's seen in his entire life. Consider the discomfort and anxiety felt by Jake as he walks into a low-lit brothel, with pulsating, blood-red lights and wallpaper decorating the rooms and meets a young stripper, with a thick piece of glass separating them. The stripper plants both of her heels on the glass whilst sitting down, exposing her whole body for Jake's pleasure, as they communicate through the glass. Jake is beyond uncomfortable and is simply trying to get his daughter back, but in order to do so, he must subject himself to worlds he never thought could've existed.This kind of relativism makes for a deeply fascinating film, and in Schrader's screen writing and directing hands, Hardcore beams with life. Schrader includes a barrage of must-have locations for this kind of film, and captures them in a way that adheres to the principles of realism. Never does Schrader seem to go overboard in his depictions of this underworld, nor does he compromise Jake's character by making him unlikable. This is one of the first times I've seen such a close-minded, holier-than-thou, judgmental character on screen that I didn't detest; it's not entirely his fault he's been closeted to his own set of beliefs for so many years. He thought all was well and good.Scott captures this character so intensely that even his freakouts and mental breakdowns don't feel forced nor over-the-top. Scott eventually learns how to get ahead in this business, at one point going undercover as a director and interviewing male porn stars that could've perhaps had contact with his daughter. These scenes, when Scott dawns a wig, a fake mustache, and shag clothing, are completely transforming for his character, and we see a man's own personal ethics and values degrade throughout the entire film, in a slowburn fashion.Hardcore sizzles on screen, creating characters that exist, a fascinating underworld captured in details rather than in essences, and an impending sense of dread as time marches on and Jake's daughter's fate becomes more and more questionable. Much has been made about the finale, which is said to have been taken over by cautious studio executives rather than accurately reflecting the original vision of Schrader. For me, it works as a way to simmer down the film's explosiveness that it carries throughout, especially towards the end, as things intensify. The bittersweetness of the entire affair, in addition, compliments the film's nature of nothing ever totally being right or in place; not even in the beginning, as Jake is still so deeply lost in his own mannerisms.Starring: George C. Scott, Season Aubrey, and Peter Boyle. Directed by: Paul Schrader.

micic033 This movie starts very slowly, as it portrays sleepy town in mid-west of USA in the first part of the movie. Everything goes slow by its order in this small city and the community is conservative and a bit innocent, unaware of ,,evels'' in outer world. So, what essentially makes the main theme of this movie is the struggle of unspoiled innocence and influences from unknown world in minds of two main characters in movie - father and his daughter.As he (Jake Van Dorn) travels to big San Francisco to find his rebellious daughter, he discovers a hole new world of perversity, depravities and for him, unknown field of underground pornography. Unwillingly, he goes in the middle of the heat, descending, in hope to find out something more about the xxx tape with his kiddo. Everything is hopeless, until he gets to know a prostitute and slimy detective who connect him with people who shot the mentioned movie. On the end, normally, there comes the powerful finale with stubborn Jake confronting ,,the world behind curtain''.In the most part of the movie, the story is going slow and in some moments lethargic. But, this kind of tempo goes in favor to already mentioned furious and interesting unfolding at the end.Who likes simple stories with characters struggling inside, he will probably be satisfied with this underrated drama/thriller.

Condom-full-of-Hatred I decided to have a bit of a George C Scott night the other day, mainly his more genre orientated work. I watched this back to back with The Changeling and The Exorcist 3. An interesting triple bill for sure! Scott plays Jake Van Dorn, a Calvinist and conservative business man who seems to have everything going right for him. That is, until his teenage daughter Kristen disappears whilst away at school in California. Cops and an eye witness speculate that she was lead off by a young man, and the detectives don't hold out much hope of finding her. Taking the advice of the cops, Van Dorn hires a private dick, Andy Mast, (Peter Boyle, sleazier than me on a Saturday night) to begin searching himself. A month later, Mast shows back up with a reel of 8mm footage. What's on it? Why, hardcore pornography, of course! In it is his nubile and innocent daughter, not looking so innocent anymore.Van Dorn understandably goes heavy off the deep end. He moves out to California and scouts the strip, harassing hookers and pimps about his daughter, to the point where he gets his ass kicked. He realizes that the world of sleaze is not a place for a man like him, so he re-invents himself as Jake DeFreese, porn producer extraordinaire! He gets in touch with the local heavy hitters of the porn world, posing as a wealthy guy looking to make a porn flick. He then meets young hooker and porn star Niki (Season Hubley), and together they head off into the underworld to track Kristen down...George C Scott gives a pretty mean performance as Van Dorn, a man with clearly high moral values thrown into a maelstrom of sleaze and profanity. the scenes where he watches the porn with his daughter is a gruesome moment. Not only must he face the decadence of the porn world, but he must also face up to certain other realities and truths. Is his hard lined faith really the cause for his daughters self degradation? And if he does find his daughter, will she be the same person she once was, or even want to come back home with him? These questions are what make Hardcore interesting for me. Schrader almost pulls it off too, but he drops the ball a few times in terms of plotting. Van Dorn's transformation into 'porn producer' isn't entirely convincing, yet it certainly is amusing. Same goes for the discovery of the snuff reel. It was unnecessary to the plot really, and it was pretty lame looking. And of course, the finale. A bone of contention with a lot of people, me included. The ending was apparently forced by the studio, and Schraders original bleak ending was dropped. What could have been a masterpiece on futility and abandoned faith gets a neat little ending, almost all tied up. Sure, it's entertaining, but unrealistic.What works for me about a lot of Paul Schraders early films is how he paints the everyday characters so colourfully. He has a knack of writing the everyday blue collar guy in realistic yet likable fashion. Just look at both Taxi Driver and Blue Collar for that. He creates a world you can taste, and even if his central characters are off the wall, you can relate to the surroundings in a grounded way. Peter Boyle excels as always as the sleazy private eye. Even great little cameos by the likes of Hal Williams as 'Big Dick Blaque!' will have you rolling in your seat with glee. And of course, Season Hubley, Kurt Russell's ex-wife and star of my all time favorite pimp and hookers flick, Vice Squad, for those who are interested. She does a pretty good job of portraying a lost youth, much like Jodie Foster's role in Taxi Driver. She also gets highly naked, which may be of interest to some of you. For me, all I can say is yikes! Overall, Hardcore is a near miss of a classic. However, the film is shot beautifully, capturing the neon lure of California at night, and the camera work is truly stylish and innovative. The film also has plenty of nudity and violence to keep the casual crowd interested. Oh, on a final note, if the plot of this sounds vaguely familiar, that's because it was essentially remade as 8MM, by Joel Schumacher. The less said about that film, the better...