{"id":5436,"date":"2008-04-06T21:58:16","date_gmt":"2008-04-07T04:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5436"},"modified":"2023-11-30T13:51:26","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T20:51:26","slug":"hardcore-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5436","title":{"rendered":"Hardcore (1979)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;A lot of strange things happen in this world &#8212; things you don&#8217;t know about in Grand Rapids, things you don&#8217;t want to know about, doors that shouldn&#8217;t be opened.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Poster-198x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-63036\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Poster-198x300.png 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Poster-674x1024.png 674w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Poster-84x128.png 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Poster-178x270.png 178w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Poster.png 737w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen his teenage daughter (Ilah Davis) runs away during a church trip to Los Angeles, a devoutly religious midwestern businessman (George C. Scott) learns from a private detective (Peter Boyle) that she has joined the porn industry, and hunts her down with the help of a young prostitute (Season Hubley).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Father and Child<\/li>\n<li>George C. Scott Films<\/li>\n<li>Paul Schrader Films<\/li>\n<li>Peter Boyle Films<\/li>\n<li>Runaways<\/li>\n<li>Search<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nPeary and several other reviewers have noted that this tale of a moralistic man&#8217;s &#8220;descent into purgatory&#8221; while searching for his missing daughter is highly reminiscent of John Ford&#8217;s <em>The Searchers<\/em> (1956); as Peary points out, however, it&#8217;s not nearly as successful, given that director Paul Schrader seems to be using his premise as an &#8220;excuse&#8230; to show the sordid sexual world that has seduced him in real life and always finds its way into his films.&#8221; Indeed, after a strong, authentic opening &#8212; (we truly believe in this man&#8217;s orderly Calvinist world): <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Calvinists.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Calvinists-1024x549.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"343\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-63038\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Calvinists-1024x549.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Calvinists-300x161.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Calvinists-128x69.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Calvinists-768x412.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Calvinists-1536x823.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Calvinists-504x270.png 504w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Calvinists.png 1819w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8212; things slowly go downhill, as Scott&#8217;s months-long undertaking (why don&#8217;t we ever see him checking in on his business back home?) turns into simply a convenient pretext for &#8220;exposing&#8221; the underground porn and prostitution industry &#8212; an expose which these days no longer seems all that shocking. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Sordid2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Sordid2-1024x556.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"348\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-63039\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Sordid2-1024x556.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Sordid2-300x163.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Sordid2-128x70.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Sordid2-768x417.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Sordid2-1536x834.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Sordid2-497x270.png 497w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/Hardcore-Sordid2.png 1821w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Scott&#8217;s performance is as fine and true as always, but his character as written doesn&#8217;t possess much of an arc &#8212; even once he begins opening up to a fresh-faced young prostitute (very nicely played by Season Hubley), we see little evidence of any real character transformation. The film&#8217;s deeply unsatisfying ending involves a sudden slo-mo action sequence (what happened to Schrader&#8217;s eye for naturalism?), an inexplicable shooting, and a cursory reunion between father and daughter. Given its intriguing premise and fine performances, <em>Hardcore<\/em> should ultimately have been much better than it is. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>George C. Scott as Jake VanDorn<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/hardcore-scott.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/hardcore-scott.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1680\" height=\"992\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5437\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Season Hubley as Niki<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/hardcore-season.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/hardcore-season.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1668\" height=\"996\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5438\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s worth a look simply for its premise and performances. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0079271\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1979\/02\/09\/archives\/screen-george-c-scott-stars-in-nighttime-world-of-hardcorepilgrims.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/hardcore-1979\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1344hard.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/71724\/hardcore.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;A lot of strange things happen in this world &#8212; things you don&#8217;t know about in Grand Rapids, things you don&#8217;t want to know about, doors that shouldn&#8217;t be opened.&#8221; Synopsis: When his teenage daughter (Ilah Davis) runs away during a church trip to Los Angeles, a devoutly religious midwestern businessman (George C. Scott) learns from a private detective (Peter Boyle) that she has joined the porn industry, and hunts her down with the help of a young prostitute (Season&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5436\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5436"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93582,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5436\/revisions\/93582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}