Candy Heart Heist: A Lesson in Time in Being and Becoming

Dave Shecter’s Candy Heart Heist is a coming-of-age film with a hint of Juno hovering in the air. Though an unplanned pregnancy is not part of the plot—and perhaps it begins somewhere with the introduction of the blasé parents and begins to solidify with the early appearance of a store owner—but the caustic aura of teenage protagonist Amber definitely reminds you of another teenager in crisis from twenty years ago. 

Scarlett Vail plays Amber, a lonely, dejected teenager whose remedy for inattentive parents is petty theft and shoplifting. It brings her into contact with an onscreen Jennifer Coolidge impersonator (Amy DiLorenzo), the storeowner who hates both his patrons (Jason Whited), the cops he calls, and a street vendor who is allowed the bright side of thieving (something she shares with Jennifer Angelucci-Medina’s waitress character). And finally Bradley (Shecter), a random man in a diner who changes the course of Amber’s life when she slips into the seat across from him to hide from cops. Set between comedy and drama scenes, this one creates room for introspection, regret, and crucially for Amber, a way to imagine the future. 

The film benefits from its comic scenes even if and especially because Amber does not have a word of humour or levity to her character. That falls to DiLorenzo, Whited, the cops (John Steel MacDonald, Giovanny Vazquez), and even the sombre Detective Gray (Carl L. Covington Jr.), who is in town for more serious business than delinquent youth. Covington stands out despite his brief role, thanks to his balancing act between comedy and drama.

Candy Heart Heist uses a carousel sort of set-up for who will lead any given scene. Sometimes it is Amber, sometimes a random character like DiLorenzo’s or the cop duo. It all seems to boil down to a collage of a lesson in adulthood for Amber, of how to be and become, capped off by Bradley. As cherry on the cake, the grownup even leaves a little treat to be found at the end of a gloomy, if adventurous day. 

Watch Candy Heart Heist Short Film