Hardcore

This film stars Geoge C Scott as Jake Van Dorn , whose family leads a church-oriented life in their home in Grand Rapid , Michigan . When the church sponsors a youth trip to California , Van Dorn's daughter Kristen (Ilah Davis) is allowed to go . She disappears , so Van Dorn goes to Los Angeles and learns she's now making pornography in California . And there Van Dorn hires a private investigator (Peter Boyle) to find her , and later a prostitute (Season Hubley) ."Oh my God, that's my daughter". ¨Life doesn't always go as planned'' . Forget you ever had a daughter !. ¨There are some doors that should never be opened''. A man chases his daughter in the pornographic underworld !.

A thrilling and strong film about an unsettling father who undertakes a merciless crusade to look for his runaway teenage daughter who's making sex and mags films in California's porno pits , and he'll stop at nothing to get it and at whetever cost. It is rated R , but is closer to a highest rating : x . It results to be a powerful , unflinching glimpse into the dark, bizarre world of the pornography industry. It is rather reminiscent of those old sleazy movies that were advertised as sex-education flicks. As usual in Paul Schrader films , he takes recurring theme of isolation and self-loathing and their effects on the psyche . Stars George C Scott who gives a very good acting as Jake Van Dorn , a businessman from the American heartland who shares strong Calvinist convictions with most of his countrymen when suddenly his teenage daughter is missing from her church youth convention trip to California . He's well accompanied by a good support cast , such as : Peter Boyle , Season Hubley , Dick Sargent , Leonard Gaines, Dave Nichols , Gary Graham, Larry Block, Bibi Besch , Ed Begley Jr , among others.

It contains a strange but emotive at times musical score by Jack Nitzsche composed by meansof synthesizer. As well as evocative and dark cinematography by Michael Chapman. The motion picture was well directed by Paul Schrader , though being really ugly and sordid. Paul has frequently written about characters who are lonely, isolated, surrounded by the seedy side of sex and his roles usually have traumatic and deeply troubled pasts with a propensity for self-destruction which they are constantly trying to escape from . Stablishing his reputation as one of Hollywood's top screenwriters, which was consolidated when Martin Scorsese filmed Schrader's script Taxi Driver (1976), written in the early 1970s during a bout of drinking and depression. The success of the film allowed Schrader to start directing his own films, which have been notable for their willingness to take stylistic and thematic risks while still working squarely within the Hollywood system. The most original of his films -which he and many others regard as his best- was the Japanese co-production Mishima (1985) and following a lot of pictures as writer or director such as : Blue collar , Hardcore , Gigolo , Light sleeper , Autofocus , Affliction , Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2012) . Rating : 6.5/10 . Better than average. The pic will appeal to George C. Scott fans.

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.

Now that George C. Scott has passed away, many of my on-line acquaintances were citing selections from the movie "Patton" as their favorite on-screen quotes from the late actor.

My personal favorite, however, comes from what was the turning point of Scott's character in this movie. I pitied what Jake Van Dorn saw (then couldn't bear to see) as he watched his daughter coupling with the stringy-haired porn actor. Then I pitied him more as he unsuccessfully tried to crash the porn world in search of his only child. Finally, Scott made Van Dorn's final desperation palpable as he sat in the dimly lit motel room, head in his hands (although the toupee WAS hilarious) after "interviewing" the parade of hapless "actors" and "actresses".

When Van Dorn raises his tired eyes to see that the individual who just entered his room is the stringy-haired actor ("Jism Jim"), Scott's acting, the camera flashbacks and the music made me lean very close to the screen. As Van Dorn showed his little girl's picture to Jim, who thereupon throws a tantrum ("That BI***, do I have to act with HER? She made my c*** so...") I found myself very happy to watch Van Dorn beat the stuffing out of Jim with the table lamp.

And the quote? Van Dorn's, in George C. Scott's comforting, whiskey-cured voice as he prepares to shove Jim into a cold shower for some interrogation:

"CHEER UP, YOU'RE NOT DEAD!"

R. I. P. Mr. Scott.

This is an extremely sordid movie, but one you never forget. I saw it in the theater almost 20 years ago and it was shocking then, so much so that I've only seen it once since and have no desire to see it again. It just left such a bad taste in my mouth.

This is a frightening picture of the pornography business 20 years ago featuring about everything you can think of in that seedy world. Unfortunately, the story centers around finding a girl from a "religious" family and the father, played by George C. Scott, is painted as something of a fanatic. He's portrayed as a cold and violent figure. (Hey, Hollywood isn't going to portray a Christian father as kind and loving.) Yet, Scott is not all that bad because he still is extremely dedicated father who went to all lengths to get his daughter back.

This movie really shows the sleazy side of the entire porno business and, thankfully, it doesn't glamorize any of it. Peter Boyle is good as the detective and Season Hubley is interesting as the prostitute who gives you her ideas on life in the business. This is a fascinating film in parts but also very tough to view in a number of areas. This may sound naive, but when I saw this in 1979, I was stunned that this type of sick-underbelly of a society existed....at least to this degree. I can't imagine what's out there today.

In summary, a very powerful but brutal movie to watch, especially if you have kids of your own.

****SPOILERS**** George C. Scott, Jake Van Dorn, gives one of his best acting performances in "Hardcore". It's every bit as good as his role in "Patton" in this modern day version of the great John Ford Western "The Searchers" as the distraught and angry father searching for his missing and runaway daughter Kristen, Llah Davis.

Powerful and riveting film builds up to a fever pitch as Jake goes into the bowels of hell in his desperate and emotional quest for his daughter in the dangerous and sleazily world of the legal as well as illegal porn industry. The scene, in an empty and darkened porno theater, where Jake was shown by private investigator Andy Mast, Peter Boyle, a clip of his daughter preforming sex acts on the screen was so powerful that it made you forget that you were actually watching a movie, not the real thing. An unsuspecting Jake, who had never seen a porno film before, went from bewilderment shock outrage and then became sickened and nauseated by what he saw, all this in just under two minutes of screen time, ranks right up there with the greatest and most unforgettable moments in motion picture history!

Jake ends up finding his daughter but she was emotionally destroyed not only by the porno world that she was living in and was part off but also by her detachment and alienation from her very religious father's feelings for her. Jake is also faced with the fact that the world outside of his small and cloistered community in Grand Rapids Michigan is as different as the Earth is from the planet Pluto.

After Jake's daughter Kristen disappeared from a trip with her classmates and members of the local Dutch Reformation Church Jake with the help of private investigator Andy Mast and local L.A hooker and part time porno actress Niki, Season Hubley, track her down in the red-light district of San Francisco. Jake is then shocked to find out that she left him because of his possessiveness and restrictions that he had on her and the friends that she choose.

Even though the movie "Hardcore" is now a bit dated and the ending is a bit too pat and contrived in order for it to pull all the loose ends in the movie together and give the film a happy ending George C. Scott's Academy Award caliber acting in the film is good enough to make you overlook the movies many faults.

Both Peter Boyle and Llah Davis are also very effective as the hired PI and Jake's missing daughter. I feel that the most sensitive as well as tragic acting in the film, on par with Mr. Scott, was that of Season Hubley, Niki, as the hooker who lead Jake to, in the end, find his daughter. Feeling that she had a chance of, with the help of Jake, leaving the life that she had in the porno world Niki sadly learned in the end of the movie that hope was nothing but a pipe dream. Knowing her helpless situation Niki sadly accepted the reality of her life in it. I feel that Jake's very emotional and truly touching final scene with Niki was far more gripping and heart-wrenching then the final scene that Jake had with his daughter Kristen and almost as good as the scene of Jake in the theater when he broke down from watching Kristen in a porno movie.