I Want Candy

I went to see this movie without any expectations and not really knowing much about it and I really enjoyed it, I came out feeling thoroughly entertained. And I rarely laugh out loud in the cinema.

I think the reason people have been disappointed is that the advertising has been misleading - pictures of a half-naked Carmen Electra - when there isn't much of this in the movie itself. So if you want a soft porn movie with scantily clad women this isn't for you. But if you want great light hearted entertainment it is.

Admittedly the storyline is not a complex one, but after a long week that's exactly what one needs on a Friday night. I was thankful for being entertained without having to try.

The mixed cast works well. Great performances from two unknown leads supported by established actors such as Eddie Marsan and Mackenzie Crook carry this movie through. Overall, a great British feel-good movie which doesn't take itself too seriously.

Look out for the bathroom scene!

This film brought back memories of the short time I spent in film school when also I had thoughts of my crew and I making it. Of course real life intervened. I was thoroughly entertained and transported back to my twenties. Thanks.

Two film students head to London with their script which they believe will be the first step to Hollywood, they hook up with a dodgy film producer who agrees to finance the film, provided they can get porns hottest star Candy Fiveways (Carmen Electra).

I Want Candy' it must be said is quite a sweet and charming film in a 'The Full Monty' kind of way, sadly though unlike that film, the laughs are few and far between it must be said, I think I went a full hour before a proper laugh, a very amusing scene that all I shall say "required wet wipes"! The only selling point this film would seem to have is the chance for men to see Carmen Elektra in various sexy outfits and states of undress, something I'm sure you could see say in a Playboy DVD, if she has one that is, not that'd I'd know about that sort of thing! Lightweight fluff all in all with a serious lack of laughs I'm afraid.

5/10

I Want Candy is the story of two aspiring film-students who find themselves making a porn film in Leatherhead.

Looking at the poster for the film, I was expecting this to be a dumb British version of the all-too familiar teen comedies that pollute our screens every summer (American Pie, Dude Where's My Car?, Not Another Teen Movie, etc.). How wrong I was. It's not the greatest film ever made, but it doesn't try to be.

Surprisingly, there's no nudity in the film whatsoever and the references to sex and porn are handled with a modicum of taste - again, not what you would expect.

Eddie Marsan (Gangster No.1, Vera Drake, The Illusionist) is excellent, as usual, as the sleazy film producer whilst Mackenzie Crook blesses us with his presence as a lecturer who desperately seeks kudos from the students.

My two criticisms of the film would have to be the typical Hollywood ending (which, like Carmen Electra, didn't really suit the sleepy Leatherhead suburb location) and the poor characterisation of Baggy (one of the two male leads).

I would probably recommend this film to friends - if only for the very funny bathroom scene.

I went to see this movie with few expectations, reasoning that even if it was awful there would be lots of pretty people to look at. It was actually really entertaining and genuinely funny throughout, and in lots of different ways. The posters make it look like it will be a soft porn romp, but apart from a few underwear shots, its all very clean. I wouldn't necessarily say take your mother, but it is a very enjoyable film. You really get a feel for the characters, and it is the interactions between them that really makes the film what it is, even with the minor characters, Crook in particular plays a great role as the hippy-ish, pretentious college teacher, who even though he pops up rarely in the film steals the scene every time. Even Carmen Electra, who you wouldn't have thought of as a dialog actress puts in a really believable performance as a the porn star with both a brain and a heart. It's not often I laugh out loud at a film but I did at this,lots. Give it a try and you'll be amused, especially in what is a fairly poor week at the box office.