Paul Schrader is a writer/director known for utilizing his own Calvinist background in his screenplays and films. In Hardcore, George C. Scott is a Calvinist furniture salesman who finds himself searching for his runaway daughter (Ilah Davis) in the seedy porn parlors of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Scott plays Jake Van Dorn well as he gradually becomes unhinged throughout the film, confronting forces both at odds with his personal beliefs as well as with obstructing his search. Simultaneously, Schrader's screenplay sets up the paradox of Van Dorn exploiting the hooker (Season Hubley) he befriends for information during his search for his supposedly exploited daughter. On the other hand, Niki, the hooker who eventually helps Van Dorn, is really only doing so because she's naive enough to think Van Dorn will "take care of her" after all is said and done.
As is the case with most of Schrader's films, his protagonist experiences a psychological journey while being catapulted into the nether regions of corruption and depravity. The film takes what appears to be an unintended humorous timeout when Van Dorn poses as a producer casting for a film, taking appointments with potential "actors" in a seedy motel room. Van Dorn meets Andy Mast, a seedy private detective played by Peter Boyle, who seems bent on preventing Van Dorn from discovering the inevitable about his daughter while simultaneously taking Van Dorn's money for doing little else. Schrader develops tension slowly, but Van Dorn's cathartic exercise at the end and the reappearance of Mast assisting Van Dorn simply doesn't ring true, even though Van Dorn's brother-in-law, played by Dick Sargent, hires Mast to find and protect Van Dorn.
Until the marred ending, Schrader takes viewers on a journey many would not otherwise take: adult video stores, porn parlors, prostitutes, smut films. In retrospect, these scenes are probably tame now, but some still have the ability to shock and startle. The film fails to depict the intended dichotomy of Van Dorn's daughter's upbringing and the underground porn world she inhabits because it does not focus on Grand Rapids, her hometown, beyond the film's first couple scenes. Therefore, viewers must wade through a good deal of the film before coming to a realization why Kristen, Ilah Davis, runs away from her church group in California.
As Schrader's extension of Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle, Van Dorn fails; in that, the viewer never believes Van Dorn will become totally unhinged like Bickle. Van Dorn remains in too much control of himself throughout the film. As he becomes more obsessed with finding his daughter, scenes of levity counteract his obsession, detracting from the film's ultimate potential effect. Van Dorn's banter with Mast, his conversations with Niki, and his initial interviews with potential "actors" in the motel room (while wearing a toupee and mustache) are examples. The film never treats the girls in the porn industry as deserving of much empathy. Thus, the resolution between Van Dorn and Niki comes as no surprise. Had Schrader worked more on building up that illusion in his and Niki's mind, which would still be consistent with his beliefs yet hypocritical, and then ended the film the same way, it would have made for a more devastating film. *** of 4 stars.
As is the case with most of Schrader's films, his protagonist experiences a psychological journey while being catapulted into the nether regions of corruption and depravity. The film takes what appears to be an unintended humorous timeout when Van Dorn poses as a producer casting for a film, taking appointments with potential "actors" in a seedy motel room. Van Dorn meets Andy Mast, a seedy private detective played by Peter Boyle, who seems bent on preventing Van Dorn from discovering the inevitable about his daughter while simultaneously taking Van Dorn's money for doing little else. Schrader develops tension slowly, but Van Dorn's cathartic exercise at the end and the reappearance of Mast assisting Van Dorn simply doesn't ring true, even though Van Dorn's brother-in-law, played by Dick Sargent, hires Mast to find and protect Van Dorn.
Until the marred ending, Schrader takes viewers on a journey many would not otherwise take: adult video stores, porn parlors, prostitutes, smut films. In retrospect, these scenes are probably tame now, but some still have the ability to shock and startle. The film fails to depict the intended dichotomy of Van Dorn's daughter's upbringing and the underground porn world she inhabits because it does not focus on Grand Rapids, her hometown, beyond the film's first couple scenes. Therefore, viewers must wade through a good deal of the film before coming to a realization why Kristen, Ilah Davis, runs away from her church group in California.
As Schrader's extension of Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle, Van Dorn fails; in that, the viewer never believes Van Dorn will become totally unhinged like Bickle. Van Dorn remains in too much control of himself throughout the film. As he becomes more obsessed with finding his daughter, scenes of levity counteract his obsession, detracting from the film's ultimate potential effect. Van Dorn's banter with Mast, his conversations with Niki, and his initial interviews with potential "actors" in the motel room (while wearing a toupee and mustache) are examples. The film never treats the girls in the porn industry as deserving of much empathy. Thus, the resolution between Van Dorn and Niki comes as no surprise. Had Schrader worked more on building up that illusion in his and Niki's mind, which would still be consistent with his beliefs yet hypocritical, and then ended the film the same way, it would have made for a more devastating film. *** of 4 stars.