Customer Reviews

Hearts in Atlantis (Widescreen)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

Hearts in Atlantis is an excellent film that pulls at your heart-strings and causes you to make parallels with your own childhood.

Anthony Hopkins does an excellent job in playing the mysterious character of Ted as well as the rest of the cast who round out this effecting tale of lost innocense and relationships lost.

I found the story to be quite interesting and it kept my attention throughout. I found the relationship between Ted and Bobby very moving and sad all at the same time.

Even if one is not a fan of Stephen King, give this one a shot. It is more along the lines of "The Green Mile" rather than an "It" or a "Dreamcatcher."

The last lines of the movie sum this wonderful film up nicely and leave the viewer feeling a strange combination of sadness and inspiration all at once. I highly recommend this film. One of Stephen King's best adaptations. My complements to director Scott Hicks.

First of all, let's get one thing straight: this movie focuses only a very small portion of King's novel, and not necessarily even the best part. Portions of the film are quite faithful to the novel, but much of the nuance of King's excellent novel is lost in the translation to the screen.

Still, when considered on its own merits, the film is really quite good. The child actors are very believable, and the interplay between Anthony Hopkins' enigmatic telepath and the children is really quite subtle and very touching. Hope Davis also plays the main character's tortured, conflicted mother tragically and convincingly.

Unlike Green Mile or Shawshank, the film does not end with a "wow" moment. The film is much more intimate and subtle than either of these other King adaptations, and that is the beauty of it. While the film may not resonate with all viewers, it is actually a very touching story about a boy's loss of innocence, although it lacks the broader vision of King's novel.

Listen to this movie is like that you wish you have a friend like hopkins ... almost just good thing of life but with the cruel reality.

Just watched this movie for the second time and remembered why I didn't add it to my list of favorite films. The movie has the potential to be great but seems to try too hard to be another "Shawshank Redemption", losing focus and glossing over parts of the film that might deserve more, while paying too much attention in other areas that don't improve the viewer's experience.

The oldies-filled soundtrack is one of the best things going for the movie, offering familiar and mostly upbeat tunes, even if the placement might feel too obvious. Others have mentioned what a fantastic job the younger actors do, and Anthony Hopkins is competent here, though it has to be noted that he wasn't working with stellar material to begin with.

Overall, Hearts in Atlantis offers some good scenes and music, but serious Stephen King and Anthony Hopkins fans are likely to be disappointed.

Although not a Stephen King fan, the name "Anthony Hopkins" on a DVD label always chains my eye. Hopkins' ability to impart many facets to a character always makes watching him work a keen pleasure. It's disheartening, however, to watch a superiour talent squandered on a weak plot. Hopkins strains to cast off King's sparse characterisations, very nearly succeeding. Hicks and his cinemetographer also struggle to impart life into the otherwise narrow roles. King's insistence on portraying life as if we all lived in a dark Bedlam limits their options. The result is a sequence of tight focus, either through narrow apertures or as mirror reflections, on people and events. Given the plot restrictions, there's little else they could do. It makes for grand visual dramatics, but leaves little scope for the cast to maneuvre. Even a county fair is squeezed into a shill's booth and a Ferris wheel seat.

Hopkins, in a supporting role to young Anton Yelchin, is a fugitive. The parable of the kindly old surrogate father with special talents is so hoary it bears whiskers. In this case the "special talent" is that of a psychic with wide-ranging capabilities. Hopkins, as Ted Brautigan, doesn't want to fall again under the clutches of anti-communist J. Edgar Hoover's minions. They're "low men". He enlists bobby [Yelchin], an 11-year old in a mid-sized Connecticut town, to keep nit. The "low men" will put up posters on telephone poles [in the name of reason, why??], wear dark suits and drive flash cars. No stereotyping, here, folks! Yelchin, feeling the first stirrings of testosterone, is caught between lusts - his neighbour Carol and the bicycle in a shop window. Of course, Bobby and Carol are victimized by the local bullies. And, of course, Hopkins . . . whell, you work it out.

Child actors like Anton Yelchin are enigmas. If you can't get the little buggers to brush their teeth or go to bed on time, how do you get them to take direction in front of a camera? Especially in a film with all those intense close-ups? In the Special Features with this film, Hopkins and Hicks laud Yelchin for his "natural talent". It's not a contestable point. Whatever Yelchin is to his mum and schoolmates, he's outstanding here. He exhibits no outsized affectations - he appears fully natural. His moods reflect his [too rapidly] growing awareness of the adult world's complexities and disillusionments. As he gropes with these challenges, he matures, but not beyond reasonable bounds. It will be interesting to see what else he achieves. Good fortune will keep him away from further Stephen King enterprises. Perhaps something with Harrison Ford would hone his skills. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

If you enjoyed Stephen King's "Stand by Me" you will enjoy this Stephen King story. It is filled with nostalgia for those who grew up in the fifties, but it transcends any period. It is about a boy's "last summer of childhood". To quote Anthony Hopkins' charachter, "When you are young you have such moments of great happiness that you think the world is magical much as Atlantis must have been. Then you grow up and your heart gets broken." It is told from the perspective of a man about fifty looking back into the past at two very special relationships that he had in his childhood. It is masterfully directed. The cinematography is truely a work of art. I love this flick.

"Low Men in Yellow Coats," a novella in the collection _Hearts in Atlantis_ is the essential basis for this film. I am not going to summarize this story--you can find a summary in one of the numerous reviews--but I will explain why reading the book is important to understanding the movie. Questions left unanswered? Well, the story is much too big not to. You see, Ted Brautigan is not just a psychic guy who is running from the FBI because maybe he can know things he shouldn't. No, that was a story made up for the movie because explaining Brautigan's character accurately would have taken 10 or so hours to do, so the film adaptation altered the story to fit standard movie length, albeit inadequately (hence only 4 stars instead of 5).

In the novella, Brautigan is a "breaker"--a psychic enslaved by the Crimson King, with the sole purpose of demolishing the Dark Tower. Brautigan escapes, finds refuge in the apartment where Bobby meets him, and is hunted by "the low men in yellow coats" who plan to capture him, returning him to his enslavement.

For further reference read the Dark Tower series and other Stephen King novels relating to it. 'salems Lot, the stand, skeleton crew, It, The Eyes of the Dargon, Rose Madder, Insomnia, Desperation, The regulators, The talisman, Balck house, From a Buick 8, and Everything's Eventual.

I viewed this DVD because I was profoundly curious about the title after having read the book. I found the book to be terrible; I found it to be one of King's worst efforts, and made me think that he should hang up his typewriter.

Certainly, I don't expect a movie to play-out exactly as the book it is based upon. The Hearts in Atlantis movie bears very little resemblence to the book of the same title, and I find that to be a tremendous relief!

The book tried, and failed, to give a story that was too profound, told with too little continuity, and never completely resolved. The movie relaxed its goals, but still ends up telling only a sketch of a story. The viewer is left to induce their own meaning into the few details given to them, and I just don't find that satisfying.

So vague is this movie that I'm surprised an incredible cult hasn't sprung up around it. After all, its "true meaining" is subject to wide interpretation, but is certainly "obvious" to a few. Those few would be the leaders of the cult, and those who believe their interpretations would help convince and recruit more members, and so on.

Much of the books content is missing from the movie, and that's an improvement as it helps the film focus on one set of characters in one time and place. But it does nothing to make the characters more interesting, the conflict more interesting, or the resolution more satisfying.

Hopkins holds up a gang of B-list and fledgeling actors with a decent performance. But the rickety plot and ill-defined story are this movie's true failing.

I appreciated the camera work in this film, as many of the scenes were carefully lit, beautifully composed, and exceptionally set. Sad that such great art was lost on a bomb of a plot.

"Hearts in Atlantis" is based on a Stephen King novel, but don't expect "The Shining" here. Despite its supernatural shadows, this film is, at its core, about the friendship between a man and a young boy. A stranger, Ted Brautigan (played by Anthony Hopkins) arrives in a small town and takes a room in a boarding house where an emotionally-broken woman (Hope Davis) and her son Bobby (Anton Yelchin) live. Bobby, who is hungry for a father figure, finds companionship in Ted's quiet, wise manner as they read, and discuss, the daily newspaper. But Ted is a wanted man. He is being sought by the "low men," mysterious mind-readers who want Ted for their government project and who thus endanger the blossoming relationship between man and boy.

"Hearts in Atlantis" is beautifully filmed and edited, with shadows and visual flashes and an eeriness that creates an atmosphere lurking with uncertainty and danger. The scenes between Hopkins and Yelchin are taut and subtle. Actress Hope Davis as Bobby's selfish mother is less convincing. Despite this unevenness, I thoroughly enjoyed this mesmerizing movie.

This is Hopkins's showcase, through and through, and he does not disappoint. The story is suspenseful, the underlying currents strong, and the acting competent at its worst. Only near the end does it get sentimental.

Those who have read and loved King's novel might best steer clear, since I've been told by several people that this film disappoints in comparison. Still, I recommend "Hearts in Atlantis" for anyone in the mood for an dark and wise tale about a young boy growing up.

Ryan wrote: The story doesn't make much sense in a logical fashion and a lot of things are kind of left unresolved. We never really find out what was going on with Ted Brautigan nor do we find out what happened to him. Bobby didn't keep in touch with Carol and is stunned to find out she has died. Liz Garfield is raped by her boss and nothing is really said of it. I guess this is supposed to represent real life in a sense, but I'm not quite sure it works to tell a coherent story.

Overall, though I was entertained, I was also baffled. When the movie ended I asked my wife, "What was that?" We didn't really have much of an answer for it. Though there were some very endearing moments in the movie, it also left you kind of wondering what we were supposed to get from it. For the good acting, especially by the young Bobby and Carol, I'm giving it 3/5, but the story just doesn't make all that much sense.

My Comments: That was the point! We are not supposed to find out what happened. The story is told from the views of a child. We know that Ted was taken away. We know that his mother left and they moved to Boston. It is the story of a boy that holds a special place in his heart for his first love and the people and times that surround those events. I respect your viewpoint, but perhaps you should give the film another try and look to its innocence. Do you remember when Ted said, "When they grow older their hearts will break in two"?