Hardcore

From the description -- man goes to find his daughter, who has been pulled into hardcore pornography -- Hardcore sounds like a prototype version of Taken, leaning more towards noir and investigative thriller than butt-kicking, Jason Bourne as a dad action. Unfortunately, I got neither of those. Instead, Hardcore left me bored and irritated at its simplistic yet contradictory morality and world view. George C. Scott's Jake is a midwestern dad from Michigan. He's devoutly religious; he doesn't drink, he isn't tempted by the flesh, he sings hymns and spirituals because he loves them. On a church-sponsored trip to California, his daughter Kristen disappears. Seems simple enough, but this is the loose ground on where this shoddy movie is built. On the one hand is this movie's view of California in general and pornography in particular. While this came out at the tail of the hedonistic 70's and the Golden Age Of Porn, the movie seems to be designed to repudiate it at every step. Almost every shot of California in this movie portrays the state as a triple-X strip mall. I'm not kidding either when I say California in general, as the movie has scenes in LA, San Francisco, and San Diego, and almost every building seen is some variation of a nudie booth theater, strip joint, whorehouse, adult book store, or kink club. It is what every pearl-clutching, pulpit-thumping, ultra-conservative nutjob thinks of California; an 800 mile long Sodom and Gomorrah. It is so cartoonish and exaggerated, it would be laughable if it didn't seem to reflect some twisted, unrealistic views on the state. And that doesn't get into how the movie treats the adult industry in general. Contrary to what moralists would have you believe, not every sex worker has been trafficked. Some actually do choose to do it willingly. Yes, the industry in the 70's is miles away from what it is now, but the way it is presented here is still disconnected from reality. But then again, so is this movie's view of religion and faith. Jake's faith is a driving force; it is his defining characteristic. But it is portrayed in a way that more makes a mockery of it than treats it is a positive. Jake is buttoned up to the point of being repulsed by sex and women. His faith drives him, but it also seems to blind him to reality, and it paints the town he is from as a provincial, theocratic backwater (which angered the real town). He, and the movie, are as insultingly naive about faith as they are about the adult entertainment industry. In the end, this moronic tug of war undermines the entire movie. The drama is undercut by this contradiction (never mind the weird, upbeat, disco-esque soundtrack), making every minute feel tedious. The acting is fine, but in all other ways, this movie is a bore at best and confused at worst.