Based on Stephen King's novella, 'Hearts' is a coming of age tale; this time focusing on Bobby (Anton Yelchin), a young boy growing up in 60s America. He's without a father and has a workaholic, self absorbed mother (Hope Davis). One day, a mysterious stranger, Ted (Anthony Hopkins), arrives to rent the top floor of the house. From these on, it becomes a truly magical summer for Bobby as he begins growing into manhood, learning love, responsibility and ultimately, courage in oneself, while bonding with Ted, who seems to be in possession of certain 'abilities'.
While it won't reinvent the wheel of coming-of-age films, 'Hearts' is still a well produced tale in its own right. Huge part of this goes to.two solid leads in Hopkins and Yelchin; Yelchin is absolutely believable as Bobby, going from brash to caring to loyal to his newfound friend, as many children can be, while giving the role conviction and never sounding whiny. Hopkins is, well, Hopkins; he does great as the enigmatic but friendly stranger, and it's not hard to see why Bobby would look up to him. As for other pros, well, it is masterfully directed by Scott Hicks (Shine), making use of a warm colour palette as befitting the nostalgic-summer vibe of the tale, and Mychael Dynna's score is suitably idyllic and sweet without being overt or bombastic.
Now of course, this film's forgotten status is not entirely inexplicable; even with a few bit of great emotional 'punch' throughout, there's no getting around its somewhat formulaic nature. This is very much in keeping with all the tropes of these stories, and never really does anything to break from the mould, so a lot of things you can see coming from a mile away. That, and the wrap around stuff & bits of narration with older Bobby in present times never feels woven in often enough to really matter.
Despite that however, I was pleasantly surprised by 'Hearts in Atlantis', and if you enjoyed the more dramatic King adaptations, give this one a whirl. It's simple, sweet and exactly what it says on the tin. Nothing more, nothing less.
While it won't reinvent the wheel of coming-of-age films, 'Hearts' is still a well produced tale in its own right. Huge part of this goes to.two solid leads in Hopkins and Yelchin; Yelchin is absolutely believable as Bobby, going from brash to caring to loyal to his newfound friend, as many children can be, while giving the role conviction and never sounding whiny. Hopkins is, well, Hopkins; he does great as the enigmatic but friendly stranger, and it's not hard to see why Bobby would look up to him. As for other pros, well, it is masterfully directed by Scott Hicks (Shine), making use of a warm colour palette as befitting the nostalgic-summer vibe of the tale, and Mychael Dynna's score is suitably idyllic and sweet without being overt or bombastic.
Now of course, this film's forgotten status is not entirely inexplicable; even with a few bit of great emotional 'punch' throughout, there's no getting around its somewhat formulaic nature. This is very much in keeping with all the tropes of these stories, and never really does anything to break from the mould, so a lot of things you can see coming from a mile away. That, and the wrap around stuff & bits of narration with older Bobby in present times never feels woven in often enough to really matter.
Despite that however, I was pleasantly surprised by 'Hearts in Atlantis', and if you enjoyed the more dramatic King adaptations, give this one a whirl. It's simple, sweet and exactly what it says on the tin. Nothing more, nothing less.