Hearts in Atlantis

Rating:
Summary: gentle tale that evokes the Atlantis of childhood
Review: This film is different from what many people think of as a brand-name Stephen King story. In much of his work, there is a nihilism, almost to the point of total despair, a feeling that good, if not quite nonexistent, is so weak or remote that it is utterly inconsequential. Here, good is a force to be reckoned with. Another difference, something that makes this stand out, is that the supernatural, though present, is only one of the forces that drive the story. The hunting of Ted, a boarder with mysterious powers, by the equally mysterious "low men" is less important that the relationship that develops between him and Bobby, a young boy desperately in need of, if not exactly a father figure, then of a wise and kindly grandfather. The self-absorbed mother and the child characters, particularly the girl Carol, are utterly believable and the sweet little romance, utterly innocent, is touching and real. Anthony Hopkins was wonderful as always, playing the role with a kind of wistful and humane sadness. As someone who was a child in the 1950's, let me tell you the makers of this film did a superb job recapturing the feel of that vanished world. The boy's life is changed for the better and although evil does win some battles, it is good which survives and prevails.

Rating:
Summary: My Heart is in Atlantis Too
Review: Loved this little gem of a film. The more I see of Stephen King-based films--Shawshank, Green Mile, Stand By Me, Hearts in Atlantis--the more I realize that King is slowly transforming his reputation as a writer, thinker and human. This is a wonderful, simple, subtle, well-acted, well-filmed, film. The lessons are moving, the messages so beautifully conveyed. There are so few good "films" out there. See this one, to remind yourself of what goodness and greatness are really about.

Rating:
Summary: Great flick with a few slow spots
Review: This is not your typical 15-25 year old male moviegoers' fare. But it has a good shot at Oscar nominations.

I liked this movie-- liked it a lot. I almost gave it four stars because it does drag a bit at times. But I figure that a less frenetic pace for a film is fine, can even be a welcome change from the trend to fast, short cuts with lots of shots and scenes. This film takes a slower approach, and it produces a different feel-- one that helps take you back to the late fifties setting.

But you may not like this if you are expecting something like 60 minutes or 15 seconds. Time feels different here, and that's not all that feels different. While there is no big "magic" or anything horrific in this story, like you'd find in something like Steven King's Carrie or IT, there is a subtly nuanced psi element that adds an occasional mirage-like shimmer to moments in the story. It is wonderfully acted and filmed. I brought my eleven year old son, who gave it three out of four stars (he's a very tough critic, so three out of four is great,) and my 95 year old Dad, who tends to nod off generally, and he found it a bit slow, but the cinematography great.

Because the story revolves around the development of a kind, healthy relationship between a man and boy. This makes it (it being a PG-13) a good movie for kids, even though it is not an action film.

Rating:
Summary: Movie Magic
Review: Anthony Hopkins is just incredible! His character is full of wisdom, and mystery, yet seems so vulnerable. All the Actors in this film are fresh and touching and real-- they make you care! The cinematography is almost other worldly - I felt like I'd stepped back in time - it adds a great deal to the feel of the picture......I already want to see it again!!

Rating:
Summary: Unforgivably bad
Review: The good people at Amazon.com, charitable souls that they are, won't let me give this film a rating of less than one star. That's the only reason it got one. Okay, maybe I'm being a bit harsh; the actors, especially the always excellent Sir Anthony Hopkins, deserve some credit for doing good work. It is the screenwriter that is at fault here, having delivered an unforgivably bad adaptation of Stephen King's wonderful book, which is both as touching as the most poignant moments in this movie and as suspenseful as any of his other noted works, if not more so.

The story, as told in this film adaptation, has some nice, touchy-feely, coming-of-age moments, but beyond that it completely ignores large chunks of the novella "Low Men in Yellow Coats," which makes up the first part of the book Hearts in Atlantis and upon which this film is primarily based. The most shameful omission is the true nature of the low men themselves, and what they want from Brautigan, all of which King reveals and this film leaves unexplained. The remaining four stories in the book explore what became of these characters as they grew older, none of which is revealed in the movie. While it is too much to expect that every plot line or nuance in the book come out fully developed in a 100-minute film, the sad fact is that King's storytelling is completely butchered here. The fact that the actors are good doesn't help matters, as one is only left to wonder what they might have made of these characters had they been given a halfway decent script to work with.

If you read the book and loved it as I did, avoid this film at all costs, even when it comes on cable or network television. if you saw it and liked it, please read the book and find out what you missed out on.

Rating:
Summary: Swayed to far from the book
Review: Hearts in Atlantis was a great book unfortunately (in my opinion), the movie only rates a 'good'. Too many wonderful parts in the book are left out and as usual, someone felt the need to change a perfectly wonderful good ending! Even so, if you have not read the book, you will most probably like the movie and not know that it could have been even better than it is.

Rating:
Summary: Preview is a bit misleading, but competent is Hopkins!
Review: Do we ever REALLY have doubts about Anthony Hopkins? No. He is one of the finest actors to grace this earth, so it is no wonder how the best moments in the film revolve around him interacting with his young co-star, Anton Yelchin. Sadly, though, when the two of them aren't interacting, the action is painfully slow. There is some pleasant humor involved in the film, but for a two hour work, the film runs LONG. I think this is just something indicative of Scott Hicks' work, as I thought much the same thing of his acclaimed Shine with Geoffrey Rush.
The main thing which was off-putting was the story was advertized quite differently in the theatrical trailer. The trailer leads us to believe Hopkins' character has some sort of mystical, other-worldly powers (almost like Michael Clarke Duncan's Green Mile character), and so you come to expect something along those lines...like perhaps Stephen King was repeating himself. The trailer also leads you to believe these mystical powers are then passed on to the young boy. As I don't want to spoil the film for anyone who wasn't as fortunate as I was to catch this in sneak preview, I will just say the trailer doesn't exactly give the viewer the correct impression of the storyline. Also, the trailer doesn't even make serious mention of Hope Davis as the boy's mother, in a dynamically painful role. Her character was a dispicable example of a mother, yet the performance was beautifully executed.
There are some powerful moments in this film, to be sure. Hopkins has a monologue about sports, which is later echoed in a scene where the young boy must carry his hurt girlfriend up a huge hill, and the cinematography is tight, airy, and dark when it needs to be. The whole concept of "the lowman" character seems a little too 1950sish to work on our jaded, 21st century eyes, but the film IS set in the 50s, so go figure.
Hopkins' character is soft and approachable, which is a nice change from seeing him eat "liver and fava beans", but there is a moment where he threatens a neighborhood boy bully with information, and you see that magnificently intense power he always possesses in every role he takes.
Bottom line, go see it to appreciate the acting, but don't count on the story to move you as much as you would think. Some holes and unanswered questions make the story suffer, but Hopkins, Yelchin, and Davis are great.

Rating:
Summary: A rollercoaster of emotions, 'Hearts' beats with life...
Review: Words cannot describe how much I love this movie and I think it has all the makings of a classic. The basic premise of the story is this, 11-year-old Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) is growing up in a small town, single-mom family. Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) is a man that moves into their attic. He has special abilities where he can read other people's minds and predict the future. And gradually, a bond grows between Bobby and Ted where Ted teaches Bobby some things about life and protects him from a group of town bullies. Bobby is told to watch out for the low men in dark coats and cars who Ted believes are out to get him.

The story is not simple and this is not an easy movie to watch, in more ways than one. Ted is a man shrouded in mystery. We never learn that much about him or where he came from. But the beautifully crafted story flows smoothly and all the pieces fall together so perfectly that at the end, you are simply left in awe. This is one of the rare movies that tells very little but shows everything. You are so drawn into the story, you can sense what is going on.

The acting is impeccable for every character. Hopkins, as always, is absolutely amazing. Whenever he's in a scene, your eyes can't help but be drawn to him, his subtlety is most powerful. Anton Yelchin is definitely someone to watch as his career progresses along with Haley Joel Osment. Yelchin is a better child actor than many of the adults of today. The scenery is gorgeous. The movie is set in a small town in the north during the end of summer. It's the time where the tree leaves are just beginning to change color...beautiful, just beautiful. The music also fits the mood perfectly, light and airy, yet with a certain mysterious tone to it.

One should know that this is not a film where everything turns out perfectly or fairly at the end. Five minutes from the end, I was so sad that I wanted to beat the director over the head for doing this to me. However, when it was all done, I just felt a sense of wholeness. It's like one of those tragic movies that you hate yet can't help but love. This movie made me want to jump up and down in frustration, cry my eyes out, wallow in despair, but also to cheer, laugh, and shout in utter exhiliration. It made me feel like I was in Atlantis.

Rating:
Summary: what an extreme disappointment--bottom five of all time
Review: I loved the trailer and saw this in sneak preview and could not stand this movie. I usually like this type of film and expected so much more. Often ridiculous dialogue, and when the dialogue was good the actors couldn't seem to make it feel right. It picked up with some stories and would just leave off without ever exploring them, and generally just meandered along. This is one of my bottom five of all time, and it hurts me to say that about a Stephen King book/William Goldman screenplay/Anthony Hopkins vehicle. Shame on them all for allowing this to get to the screen in this fashion. The only slightly redeeming quality is the beauty of some of the images, but since they relate to nothing meaningful whatsoever they are just kind of marooned and wasted.

Rating:
Summary: Decent movie with some great performances
Review: A stranger moved in as a boarder just as Bobby Garfield is celebrating his 11th birthday during the summer of 1960, living with his widowed mother Bobby quickly developed a relationship with the newcomer Ted. As their friendship started to grow, Ted began to open Bobby's eyes to a whole new aspects of life, love and the meaning of family, experiences he will hold dear in the years to come.

Many will agree that the best part of Hearts In Atlantis is the acting, Anthony Hopkins was brilliant and convincing as the eccentric and mysterious Ted Brautigan, a man with an unknown past, he seems to be on the run constantly. Young Anton Yelchin was equally great as Bobby Garfield, he showed a lot of maturity in the role, and many of his scenes with Hopkins were well acted including some of the best dialogues. Surrounded by a handful of strong supporting characters, the development of Ted and Bobby is the strongest element of the movie.

Unfortunately, the rest of Hearts In Atlantis wasn't as interesting, leaving a lot of questions unanswered. Ted's psychic gift was down played, the audiences were shown just enough to jog the curiosity, but not enough to be a significant part of the plot. Ultimately, me and my cousins left the theater asking ourselves "so what?" We felt that there wasn't really much point to the film, although I do recommend a viewing solely because of Hopkins' great performance, that alone was worth the price of the ticket, a decent film, but also a forgettable one.