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Derek Malcolm's rating
Unthinking man's porn
By
Derek Malcolm
22 Mar 2007
We seem to be back in the early Sixties with this British comedy about a group of film students who decide to make an intelligent porno movie.
Directed by Stephen Surjik at Ealing Studios, I Want Candy is more reminiscent of Robin Askwith's Confessions of a Window Cleaner than any of the more cherishable Ealing comedies of the past. Unfortunately, the cheery Askwith is not there to lift the cast.
Instead, we have Tom Riley and Tom Burke as the hopeful producer and director, who attempt to pitch their film to the cynics of Soho before stumbling on a sleazeball producer (Eddie Marsan) and, later on, a famous porn star (Carmen Electra).
She likes the script and lives up to the stage name of Candy Fiveways. The would-be film-makers prove hopeless, but eventually manage, thanks to Candy, to get something fairly filthy on-screen.
There are a few good jokes here - but also a penchant for the kind of vulgarity that stifles laughs and produces groans. The truth is that I Want Candy isn't even as sophisticated as the porno films it's taking a dig at.
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Reader views (2)
This should've been a side-splitter. The idea of two nerdy students making a porn film in their parents' house is a a winner, and in the hands of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg it surely would have been - wittier, warmer and cleverer. Even some OTT rudeness like Borat would've helped.
But as it stands, I Want Candy is nowhere near as funny as it ought to be.
Personally speaking, I Don't Want Candy 2.
- John Donnelly, London, England, 27/03/2007 17:53
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Stuck in the small town of Leatherhead, frustrated film students Joe Clark (Tom Riley) and John Bagley (Tom Burke) have spent three years writing a script of gold. Faced with a life in the suburbs working for his Dad, Joe desperately dreams of becoming a film producer.
Frustrated by their teacher Mr Dulberg (MacKenzie Crook), Joe and his wannabe director John, decide to go straight to the big dogs and take their Oscar worthy script to Soho. Undeterred by the numerous doors slammed in their faces and the huge amounts of sarcasm received from receptionists with apparently massive eyes, they eventually grab the attention of sleazy and equally desperate producer Doug Perry (Eddie Marsan). Doug is willing to throw some money their way, on one condition, he wants the infamous and beautiful porn star Candy Fiveways to feature in the film.
With a bit of genre spicing the script is rewritten to accommodate Candy and her talents. With little or no budget Joe and Tom are forced to use Joe’s parent’s house as the location for the film. Secretly making an adult movie whilst your parents are at work was always going to prove difficult and provides Joe, on one occasion, with a deep and unwanted insight into his parent’s sex life when they return home early.
With stellar support from Jimmy Carr as the pair’s adult entertainment consultant and Eastenders star Michelle Ryan, the hilarious I Want Candy, complete with hilarious antics involving butter, shows dreams are worth fighting for.
- Lewis Rogers, London, UK, 23/03/2007 16:02
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