I Want Candy

I Want Candy is all about two young film makers, Joe and Baggy, who are striving to get their moving making career off the ground. However they soon find out that its more difficult getting into the trade than expected and hence chance their arms at the adult film industry. The two personalities of the characters are completely different - one confident and good at talking himself out of situations, the other naturally more reserved who comes out of his shell as the film progresses. Both though are played with amiable gusto by the two actors and there is plenty more people you'd recognise - Mackenzie Crook stars as a lecturer desperately trying to fit in, Felicity Montagu and Phillip Jackson enjoy their roles as Joe's staid parents and Jimmy Carr has some nice lines as the local video shop cashier - oh, and of course Carmen Electra. Though not laugh out loud funny, the comedy gently bubbles along and there's lots of good lines to be had which make you chuckle to yourself. Also, for a supposed 'sex comedy' the scenes are performed tastefully and there's probably only one scene that would have made it into an American pie-esquire film, involving an unlucky cameraman. Yes, the film has stereotypes, from the Eastern European sound guys to the gangster bosses and the first 20 minutes seem slightly slow, but there's lots to like about this film. The actors gel nicely with each other, the laughs from the different situations are plentiful and its a genuinely good British comedy that keeps you entertained.

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 Want Candy is a smutty farce about two film students who are supposed to make a 2 minute short for their college project but instead end up making a hardcore porn film starring Candy Fiveways (Carmen Electra) at one of their parent's home.

Tom Riley and Tom Burke have early roles, Burke looks almost unrecognisable as the fresh faced wannabe director. Both are likeable as the naive young men who want to break into movies.

Eddie Marsan stands out as the thuggish producer who does not want to make art. He wants to win the Golden Cock awards.

The film is not as raunchy as the publicity implies. It is a little rude, predictable and also uneven.

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.

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.