Rating: 
Summary: Seen This Movie Before
Review: There is a one fine scene in Hearts of Atlantis where 11 year old Bobby learns from a worn woman working in a gambling joint in the Connecticut city to which he has traveled to see Village of the Damned with Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) that his father was kind, generous, and apparently did not chase inside straights -- all characteristics mirror opposite to what he has been hearing for years from his vain and shallow mother. Additionally, Hearts in Atlantis offers another enjoyable period piece look at 1960 small town U.S., and it gets those details, with the exception of one or two slang phrases that were born years later, mostly right. Hopkins plays a psychic whose powers pay off big-time in a boxing bet for him and small-time for Bobby and friends when those powers strangely transfer temporarily to Bobby at a carnival huckster game. Beyond those highlights, however, Hearts in Atlantis is relentlessly derivative, most especially of Stand By Me. Not surprising since both movies are based on Stephen King works. For an evening when you don't have much else to do, but nothing memorable here.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprisingly slight
Review: After giving the world two such wonderful films as "Shine" and "Snow Falling On Cedars", I guess Scott Hicks as earned the right to make a mediocre one. The central problem here is the story. It made sense alongside the others in Stephen King's book, but here, deprived of its context and meaning, it just doesn't play. It looks, sounds and feels like a film that should have you crying - and gives you everything but a reason to. Hopkins still manages to be excellent as Ted Brautigan, Anton Yelchin is superb as the young Bobby, and Hicks manages to evoke the period extremely well. But in the end there's something missing at the heart of this film - a point. There might be a lesson here in the adaptation of Stephen King stories - if you're going to hold back on the violence or the supernatural, then you need to replace them with something else. Bryan Singer's "Apt Pupil" did it very well, as did Rob Reiner's "Stand By Me". This film doesn't.
Rating:
Summary: Worth a Look: Fair Adaptaion of Stephen King's Novel
Review: How to evaluate this film means, ultimately, how to bring the novels of Stephen King onto a big screen. In other words, to make the argument short, to ask you what part of King's hugely popular books exactly attract millions of readers. The answer is simple to me: his incredible gift of storytelling. Which, sadly, is totally missing here.The film version of "Heart in Atlantis" covers only the first part of the original book, but it still feels to be running pretty long. This means, we sense a kind of lack of King's knack for grabbing the audience's hearts, and of the heart of the film itself. The coming-of-age tale about a boy Bobby (Yelchin) living in the year of 1960 goes on in no steady course, getting interesting by fits and starts, first diving into a flashback scene of a newly moved tenant Ted (always good Hopkins) and Bobby's rather self-centered mother (as well good Hope Davis). Bobby soon finds a father figure in mysterious but kind Ted, to establish a friendship with him, while Ted is afraid of being spotted by "THEY" who want his unusual ability. Thus we see the Bobby's growing pains, but too many episodes seem to be thrown into the course, in a disjointed and fragmentary way. One instance would illustrate my point. Bobby's mother Liz has a date with a guy who she thinks is her future, only to be sexaully abused in a hotel room. At the same time (and virtually, simultaneously on the screen) Bobby's girlfriend Carol is also abused (sexually perhaps) by one of the local bullies, receiving a shcokingly brutal hitting from his baseball bat. AND, when dismayed Mother Liz came back home, she finds Ted nursing wounded Carol, and instantly jumps to conclusion that HE is unashamedly molesting the girl (or, including Bobby, the children) under the roof of her own house. Maybe, King's fluent pen would get away with this incredible coincidence, but not Scott Hicks, whose previous films "Shine" and "Snow Falling on Ciders" are, though both a good work with its own merit, not distinguished works of a good storyteller. In addition, we have anecdotes on supernatural power; we have secret organization; we have metaphorical story about American football. To make matters more complicated, the story starts with a flashback, with adult Ted (David Morse), in a "Stand By Me" fashion. Like the town of Castlerock, King's favorite theme would turn up here and there, but without making themselves organized in a coherent way, giving us impressions as if we were watching bits of some other King adaptations such as "The Green Mile." In his stories, it causes no problem, with his speedy development of situations, his books being real page-turner. But on the screen, everything simply drags. These complaints aside, the film turns out fairly successeful, largely owing to good acting of the able cast. No need to mention Anthony Hopkins, I believe, but the real find here is Mika Boorem ("The Patriot" of Mel Gibson, and "Along Came a Spider") who plays the role of young Carol. She, with her beauty, gives a believable figure of a girl who is apparently strong, but inwardly very sensitive. Though a mixed bag, "Hearts in Atlantis" should be called good all in all, and also note that without the script William Goldman ("Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid") gave, the film could have been less effective.
Rating:
Summary: interesting concept, but no thnx
Review: average movie at best....but don't get me wrong, Anthony Hopkins is without a doubt one of my most favorite actors of all-time, and his acting in this particular film is no exception, the ending was very well-done i might add....but to be honest, it's just not one of those movies i'd keep for my collection, too much CRYING in the movie....and i'm a HAPPY guy!...and although the film was AVERAGE at best...the relationship portrayed between friends throughout the film was convincing enough for me to keep the flick on and watch it til the end....a definite rental along with a video game or somethin.
Rating:
Summary: "Low men."
Review: Who are they? what are they? Demons? Bureaucrats? *Hearts in Atlantis* isn't quite sure, so how can we care? The movie is taken from a portion of an overlarge Stephen King novel (as opposed to the other kind of Stephen King novel). I suppose the movie's about death and loss of innocence. The settings and trappings include: small-town USA in the early 60's; golden-oldie rock tunes on AM radio; a "broken home". I thought we went through all this with Stephen back in the mid-80's with *Stand by Me*. Perhaps the author needs to talk about his childhood with a shrink, because his childhood must be of more interest to himself and the shrink than it can be to us. Performances? Anthony Hopkins seems very, very sleepy. He's totally upstaged by a wonderful piece of acting by young Anton Yelchin -- easily the best "child performance" of the year. Yelchin transmits to us the terror of growing up, and all the sorrow that can entail, with a wide-eyed sincerity admirably devoid of an acting coach's tricks. Scott Hicks' direction is perhaps too timid; the late Piotr Sobocinski's cinematography is as beautiful as it is ambitious.
Rating: 
Summary: Hmmm... Not what you expect from Stephen King
Review: This is an interesting film. I have so stereotyped King into the horror and terror category that this was quite unexpected. Set in the days of J. Edgar Hoover and the tracking down of Communists. Anthony Hopkins is on the run from Hoover's men. It is not really explained why. But as the movie progresses you discover that he has a very powerful psychic personality and that has something to do with it. The little boy does a wonderful job. I am not sure if they got any awards for this film, but they should have at least gotten some high level recognition.
Rating: 
Summary: Tony Hopkins at his best
Review: This film needs watching more than once. The theme is beautifully developed and Anthony Hopkins and Anton Yelchin interact seamlessly. Scott Hicks does a masterful job of creating the 60's mood with lighting, music and action. This is Stephen King at his best.
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly Better then the Book
Review: No, you rarely ever do see something like that, but for Hearts in Atlantis, the movie, it is right up there with the book. First and foremost, the way the actors brought the characters to life. Anthony Hopkins...well, what can you say? The man is brilliant, playing right into the character who is extremely different, yet unique. He is amazing in this role, as always. Anton Yelchin...definitely brings everything that anyone could have asked for in his performance of Bobby. He was great as well. And the girl who played Carol was great as well, as was Bobby's mother. The acting was extremely high, much better then you'd find in most other movies. I never enjoyed the book all too much, and I'm a big King fan. But this movie brought all the important aspects of the book-save everything about Vietnam-and made them known. In places where King took five pages to get something done, the movie did it in thirty seconds, saving us from some slightly annoying time-consuming minutes. The movie is powerful, which brought me nearly to tears (but hey: I cry at a ton of movies). And so yes, this may be controversial, but I truly believe this movie went above and beyond this book. The only complaint I had was with the ending. The movie would have been next to perfect if it had used the ending the book has. In fact, the ending the movie had was somehwat dissapointing. This IS a different movie then most Stephen King books, but it shows that he does have a soft side...and when he shows it, he's great.
Rating:
Summary: Too many unanswered questions
Review: Who's to blame - the director or the screenwriter? I haven't read the book this was based on but I can't believe Steven King would leave so many questions unanswered. This movie could have ranked right up there with 'Shawshank Redemption' but fell oddly flat. Bobby's reactions are all over the place; the mother could have been played with worry and preoccupation but just comes across as ditzy. The only performances that rang true were Ted Brautigan and Carol/Carol's daughter. Moments that should have been epiphanies were thrown away.
Rating:
Summary: Worth it ... but don't get your hopes up.
Review: This is *not* typical Stephen King. Instead, this is a touching story with supernatural elements set in idyllic rural America. It's told as a set of flashbacks to the protaganist's childhood, where he meets Ted (Sir Anthony Hopkins, who shines in this role, as always), a mysterious older man who helps him understand life a little bit more. It is at times slow paced, but it is entertaining. Note: this film is based on only a portion of Stephen King's novel of the same title.
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