| Hearts in Atlantis |
 |
|
| 1/2 |
 |
| Rating: Mixed Distributor: Warner Brothers MPAA: Rating: PG-13 Release Date: September 28th, 2001 (wide) Running Length: 1 hour, 38 minutes Genre: Coming of Age, Fantasy Director: Scott Hicks Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Anton Yelchin, Hope Davis, Mike Boreem, Celia Weston, Tom Bower and David Morse. |
| picture above from www2.warnerbros.com/heartsinatlantis/ |
 |
| Plot: A middle aged man (David Morse), Robert Garfield, recalls his childhood after he discovers his two childhood friends have both died. He remembers the relationship he had with those two friends, and the times that gave him a lot of enjoyment. He also remembers his mother, who is struggling to understand herself, and discover how to raise her son by herself. Robert's father has died years before. Robert also remembers a very special older man, Ted, who spent a short time with Robert's family in their second floor. Ted offers to pay Robert one dollar everyday to read him the paper. Ted gives Robert wisdom, and the two spent valuable moments together. Robert, also has special abilties, and is able to see the future and read minds. What Robert has to struggle with is the fact that Ted is hiding from dark men who will eventually either find Ted, or cause Ted to flee. |
| Critique: Hearts in Atlantis should have been expanded more, and more plot points, and more characters might have helped. Indeed, the film lacks meat in its story, and detail in its conflicts. Moreover, the result is a tightened up, weakly developed, inconsistent ride. Also, the tone of the nostalgia moments is much too dreary to be convincing in a tale of warm and joyous maturation. Director Scott Hicks is attempting to mix in the suspense of Ted hiding from the dark men, and the terrible experiences the mother is going through. However, those moods easily surpass that of the coming of age story of Robert, and rendered that plot ineffective. In a strange contradiction, there are several references to Charles Dickens. Indeed, Dickens' greatest strength was his ability to write with great scope and grandeur. Moreover, Atlantis' weakness is its inability to be stronger in those respects. The acting however is usually very strong. The boy, Yelchin, does a solid job, although at times he might overact a little. Anthony Hopkins is absolutely wonderful, and he carries many scenes that would otherwise be unconvincing. The mother Hope Davis delivers a strong performance, and David Morse is terrific as the older Robert. In conclusion, the film is dreary when it should have been warm, and desperately needed to add more meat and story to its frame. It has individual moments that worked, and the acting was fairly strong, especially by Anthony Hopkins. I do not recommend this film; it's weaknesses eclipsed its strengths. review by supernothingman |