Hardcore (1980)
When his daughter (Ilah Davis) disappears into the adult film industry, Ohio prude Jake VanDorn (George C. Scott) must infiltrate the unseemly business and even impersonate a sleaze himself in order to find out what extremely upsetting stuff his daughter has gotten into. He works alongside industry insider Niki (Season Hubley, great) and becomes something of a father figure to her, too.
Written and directed by the great Paul Schrader, the film is a fascinating look at how the industry worked around the time of its release, even though Jake’s transformation isn’t totally convincing.
He also gets in a fight with a much younger, more street-savvy young man at the end, and that doesn’t totally make sense, but this is another movie in which dads saving daughters powers triumph over all.
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