Rating: 
Summary: OUTSTANDING
Review: This movie achieves a very nearly perfect balance of suspense, pathos, nostalgia, and whimsy. The setting and overall atmosphere of the film are particularly superb, to say nothing of the characterizations. The plot is absorbing, credible and well-crafted. I plan to see this movie a second, maybe even a third time and will definitely add it to my collection when it becomes available for purchase. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Great - - - - - Popcorn.
Review: If you are expecting the Stephen King novel, you may be disappointed.
King's 1999 book "Hearts of Atlantis" features five stories, including the generally praised "Low Men in Yellow Coats." It forms the heart of this movie, which also dips into the fifth story called "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling." The film tells a tale of 1960, when a man named Ted Brautigan moves into Bobby Garfield's neighborhood in tiny Harwich, Connecticut. Bobby is impressed with the old man, as are his friends Carol Gerber and Sully-John. Bobby's Mom, Liz, has her own ideas about Ted, all of which become darker as the summer of 1960 wears on.
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Anton Yelchin, Hope Davis and David Morse, the movie never develops any kind of momentum or energy to propel it forward - it often seems to be spinning its wheels. But at least the popcorn was popped fresh!
Rating: 
Summary: A Movie Well Worth Seeing, despite King Fans' Objections
Review: HEARTS IN ATLANTIS the book was an 800-page work that represents author Stephen King's take on the tumultuous 1960s. The book consists of a number of separate pieces of writing which (just barely) share characters. This movie covers the biggest part of the book, and just for convenience I'll call it "the novel." It is 1960 in a lower-middle class suburb of Bridgeport, CT. Eleven-year-old fatherless Bobby wants his own bicycle but his mother Liz tells him he has to earn the money himself if he wants it. (Liz's common refrain: "Your father didn't exactly leave us well off, you know.) Liz's work in a realty firm provides them just the essentials. After getting to know Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins), the new neighbor upstairs, Bobby starts earning a dollar a day reading to him from the newspaper. Ted is somewhat of an enigma but enjoys literature and helps Bobby reach into the realm of adult fiction. Although mother Liz initially trusts Brautigan "about as far as I could sling a piano," eventually she becomes more tolerant--but certainly not friendly--with this enigmatic man. Ted tells Bobby that the "low men" are out to get him and has Bobby scour the local telephone poles for lost-dog flyers of an unusual nature. The first one Bobby sees, he sloughs off because it could have been a real ad. A mistake. In "Hearts in Atlantis" a good movie? Very good, in my opinion. It uses a bracketing device of a 52-year-old Bobby revisiting his home town, which has become a semi-slum in the intervening four decades. (The movie was actually filmed at several towns in central Virginia, not in New England.) Attention to period detail, everything from greeting cards to Liz's elegant new clothes for a seminar, to what's on TV to automobiles, is spot-on. One minor gripe, common to many movies: Since vintage cars are usually rented from car-buffs, the older models gleam and aren't as weathered as they should be in terms of the time setting for this film. Cars from 1960 are beautiful; so are cars from the late 1940s. I wish Hollywood would invent some sort of "anti-wax" to weather old cars temporarily without damaging them. Anthony Hopkins, as Ted, is wonderful. His role causes him to be warm yet introspective and mysterious, and he brings real convinction to the role. The boy who played Bobby was fine. I had a little trouble with the "Liz" character because she didn't come out anywhere near as bee-witchy as in the novel. (Of course, the novel had the advantage of seeing straight into Liz's character.) The actress who played Liz comes across as distracted, not mean, but I don't have the heart to point the finger at the actress. The actress who played Carol, Bobby's first girlfriend, demonstrates a remakable acting range. I hope we see more of her. Like so many other Amazon reviewers, I read Stephen King's writing and I found this movie to be a very good adaptation of the novel. Of course, a novel of several hundred pages cannot be made into a hundred-page movie script without cutting, but the whole work is coherent and believable. I'll go out on a limb and hope the writer of this screenplay gets nominated for an Oscar for best adaptation of a screenplay from another source. Non-Stephen King followers, I think you will find this a good solid movie with just a hint of the supernatural (much less than in the novel), and a convincing look at a boy's coming-of-age. There are also some points made about male sexuality that, because of montage, are actually a little more intense in the film than in the novel. And I was impressed at how much of the original novel's language was kept intact in the film. Given that Hollywood has certain technical limitations in what it can portray, to me this was a convincing and gripping film. I think most people will enjoy "Hearts in Atlantis," whether at the cinema or in VHS or DVD.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Pleasant Movie
Review: "Hearts in Atlantis" runs like your basic nostalgia movie, but with a slightly paranormal twist. Anthony Hopkins is terrific in his role (dare I say, "as usual"?). With movies nowadays trying so hard to be obnoxious or impress the audience with flashy tricks and effects, it's nice to see one that highlights its setting and story instead. It has a few flaws, and sometimes feels a little generic, but it's a nice way to spend a couple of hours at the movies.
Rating:
Summary: Hopkins Scores Again
Review: Once more, Anthony Hopkins proves that he is one of the finest actors of our time in this excellent adaptation of the Stephen King novel (when you get William Goldman adapting a King novel, you can't go too far wrong). Hopkins stars at Ted Brautigan, a mysterious man who comes to live with 11 year old Bobby Garfield (a teriffic performance by Anton Yelchin) and his widowed mother, a bitter woman who hates Bobby's late father, herself and even her son (another wonderful role for the underrated Hope Davis). Ted and Bobby soon develop a bond and Ted becomes a surrogate father to the boy. Ted has these unusual powers - he can read people's thoughts - which Bobby soon acquires. All the while, Ted is on the run from the "Low Men", a mysterious group of men who are never clearly explained, but it is obvious that Ted's powers are something they want for themselves. The scenes between Bobby and Ted are very touching, as are the scenes with Bobby and his girlfriend Carol (yet another 4 star performance from a young actress named Mika Booren). The scene where Bobby carries the injured Carol on his back, inspired by the feats of Chicago Bears great Bronco Nagurski, is very moving. There appear to be many themes to the story - a person's need for friendship and love, loyalty and trust, and appreciating what you have before it is gone. I did not read the Steven King story so I had no preconceived notions about the movie. Although the story is very complicated and a bit complex, it is thoroughly involving and the 2 hours were up in a flash. This is a movie that I will buy when it gets to DVD. (AND DID)
Rating:
Summary: Magical
Review: The film version of HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, based on the book by Stephen King, is essentially the story of a boy's first significant experience with the World of Grown-Ups, and the process of maturation that this new awareness initiates. It's 1960, the GOP has just nominated Richard Nixon for his first run at President, and Bobby Garfield has just turned 11. His mother, Liz, is so self-absorbed with her own "career" that her gift on the occasion is an adult library card rather than the new bike he yearns for. Bobby's father deserted the family 5 years previous, and so the boy exists without much adult interaction, his mother still being bitter over the separation and too selfish to pay her son much attention. His only friends are best pals Sully and Carol, a boy and girl his own age. Into the void steps Ted Brautigan, a lodger for the second floor set of rooms. Ted, in late middle age, hires Bobby to read the paper to him every day in deference to failing eyesight. And, furthermore, to be on the lookout for the "low men", mysterious strangers hunting Ted for an unspecified but threatening purpose, who are expected to arrive in town wearing dark suits and driving fancy cars, and who will leave coded messages around town disguised as lost pet notices. Since I myself turned 11 in 1960, I was particularly delighted by the visual and aural devices the director used to evoke the culture of the period: cars, music, TV shows, radio broadcasts, women's fashions, and such boys' toys as baseball mitts and shiny new bikes. The atmosphere thus created is perhaps the film's best feature. (Good heavens! Did cars really have tail fins that outlandish? Memory fails.) Young Anton Yelchin as Bobby and the incomparable Anthony Hopkins as Ted are the cast's star performers. Hope Davis is effective in the role of the self-centered Liz, who infuriatingly denies her son any Quality Time or motherly affection. The event that eventually leads to her behavior modification, though undoubtedly harsh, is satisfyingly effective. Mika Boreem is positively charming as Carol, the object of Bobby's budding awareness that a girl may be more than someone to roughhouse with around the neighborhood. As Ted predicts to Bobby's horror at the time, Bobby's first kiss shared with Carol is the standard by which he'll subsequently compare all others. Stephen King's books generally have an Otherworld element to them, and it's likely to be menacing. Not having yet read the book version of HEARTS IN ATLANTIS, I don't know if that generalization applies. However, for an adult viewer, the film version will not present anything that is spookily ominous about Ted's predicament. Rather, the Grown-Up may say, "So, what else is new?" That's why the movie should be viewed through the eyes of a lonely 11 year old, who is at risk for losing a cherished and newly discovered adult friend to unidentified circumstances. From that perspective, HEARTS IN ATLANTIS becomes a truly magical entertainment experience.
Rating: 
Summary: No Way to Praise
Review: Anthony Hopkins...one of the greatest actors of our time. Steven King...an absolute genius whose talent does not seem to know any bounds. The combination...one would think the combining of these talents would create something beautiful and touching like when Tom Hanks and King were combined in The Green Mile. Not at all. I cannot hold back the fact that I think this movie was horrible. I will admit I have not read the book. I do not think that would have helped. In fact, if I had read the book I probably would have been more angry at this waste of time and money. There is not one ounce of character development in this movie. If I were to cry it would be because I just did not get to know anyone of these characters who might have had the potential for pulling at the heartstrings if given any development whatsoever. Instead, the only thing that made me cry was the slowness of my watch as I checked it every three minutes (thank God for Indiglo tm). One cannot feel any sort of emotion for these characters. They slip about cautiously then all of the sudden they are best friends in love with one another. When? How did these strong bonds form. Certainly not in the script. The one star rating...well, call it sentimentality for Hopkins acting (which struggled with such a weak script). King will keep writing and Hopkins will continue to act. Thank goodness for that. Whoever directed this or is responsible for letting it hit the theaters in this form should go directly to the back of the long line of producers and directors in Hollywood who simply wasted the talent and potential of those who surrounded them. In short, do not let the touchy title fool you...this movie is not worth the time. It is simply lost...somewhere underwater in Atlantis.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: I saw this movie with just time to kill, and it was time killed wisely. I never imagined a Stephen King book to be this emotionally involving. The movie as a whole, was absolutley great. It could have, however, been better.. possibly a little bit more on who these men that are after Anthony Hopkins?? But character development and caring for the character was wisely done with the flashback advantage. Go see this movie if you love the 50's, car's and music this movie was great eye candy.
Rating: 
Summary: You can skip this one
Review: I love Anthony Hopkins as much as the next person, but this movie had several flaws: (1) nothing much happens; (2) Anthony Hopkins speaks with a slur that I guess is supposed to imply world-weariness, but instead is just annoying; (3) Anthony Hopkins spouts trite observations ("we're all just passing through, kiddo, just passing through") that imply wisdom, but instead are just annoying; (4) the movie could have ended at any one of its last four scenes, and nothing would have been lost. However, I don't think the movie's awful. There are a couple of scenes that are outstanding, the best of which is a conversation that Hopkins has with a local bully. And that the young protagonist's girlfriend was perfectly cast and excellently played.
Rating:
Summary: Good but frustrating
Review: The movie was very well casted, from Hopkins down to (a Stephen King movie vet himself) David Morse. The child actors were exceptional, though I wish Sully had been developed a little more. I rushed to my car after school the day it came out and saw the second showing, and wasn't really all that disappointed. But, as I have read the book and the Dark Tower series (plus most all of King's other works that tie in to the saga), the fact that they removed the 'Yellow Coats' from 'Low Men In Yellow Coats' annoyed the hell out of me. I can understand that not everyone out there has read the DT series but I was hoping on behalf of all Stephen King fans, that for once the Dark Tower would be brought to the silver screen if only in part. The change from being a Breaker to a psychic, and the 'bad guys' being demoted from evil, grungy, ethereal low men in yellow coats to FBI agents was aggravating to a hardcore fan like myself. Still the movie was exceptional and better than most '01 releases. Go see it.
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