Hearts in Atlantis
***1/2
Cinema Releases - March 8, 2002
Rated on a 4-star scale. Certificate 12. 101
minutes. Directed by Scott Hicks. Written by William Goldman; from a story
by Stephen King. Starring Anton Yelchin, Athony Hopkins, Hope David, Mika
Boorem, David Morse, Alan Tudyk.
"Childhood has moments of such magic, such pleasure,"
remarks the Anthony Hopkins character at one point in this movie. "It feels
like what Atlantis must have felt like."
Yes, but Atlantis ended, and so does the simplicity
and innocence of childhood -- life gets complex, and you start to realise
that disappointment and unfairness does happen, without any particular reason.
Ultimately, we all end up somewhat like the character played by David Morse
in "Hearts in Atlantis", standing in the present, silently
looking back with a thoughtful, rueful smile at what once was.
The movie takes place in a small Virginia town
in 1960. Anton Yelchin plays an 11-year old boy whose father is dead and
whose mother spends more time at work than at home, and would rather spend
money on dresses for herself than on a birthday present for her son. He doesn't
want to complain, but can't help feel a little stiffed at getting a library
card instead of a bike.
A new lodger arrives for the apartment upstairs,
an ageing writer played by Anthony Hopkins with nice manners but a certain
whimsical distance. He often sits on the porch taking extra long drags on
his cigarette, tilting his head up to the sky and meditatively pondering.
And he has spells -- sudden, overpowering turns that make him freeze and
look scared, from which he emerges looking a little
embarrassed.
The Hopkins character is a fascinating one. He
has a way of dealing with Yelchin that seems to know the way an 11-year old
thinks and yet does not patronise; he can empathise and understand, while
using wisdom to lead. "There's great things to be found in books," he tells
him of the library card. "I dunno, kid, maybe something good will come of
it. Read some Jules Verne and you'll picture things in a different
way."
Hopkins helps Yelchin deal with his mom, helps
him realise that he has an attraction to one of his girl buddies ("You'll
kiss her, and it'll be the kiss by which all others are measured,") and helps
him confront school bullies -- but these things don't come about in a gimmicky
way; there's a quietly beautiful friendship going on between the man and
the boy, from which journeys happen to emerge.
Running through the background is a thread involving
Hopkins's claim that he is being chased by 'Low Men', as the archaic expression
goes. They wear dark hats and coats, and are probably after Hopkins because
he seems to have some kind of supernatural or telepathic power -- Yelchin
is never sure about that until the end of the movie, but the potential presence
of the 'Low Men' has a looming menace about it that teaches him some valuable
things about how reality can be unreasonable.
"Hearts in Atlantis" is better than "My Dog Skip",
a movie with a similarly nostalgic look and feel, because the nostalgia is
not emphasised as much -- we're drawn in by the strangeness of the Hopkins
character, the otherworldly elements of the story, the truth of the individual
characters. The elegiac, reflective mood is treated almost incidentally,
letting it earn a reaction naturally. The director, Scott Hicks, does a good
job of capturing the point of view of a child -- look at the scene where
Hopkins and Yelchin venture into a bar, and reflect that while the camerawork
seems to be plain, steady and unobtrusive, the framing is subtly highlighting
the largesse of the place, evoking that feeling of awe and curiosity that
you get as a kid when you're first allowed to enter a saloon.
The movie is based on a story by Stephen King,
who is very good at weaving magic into tender atmosphere, and throwing in
bits of musing and symbolism. He did it in "The Green Mile", and does it
again here, in a smaller-scale, more low-key piece of storytelling. "Hearts
in Atlantis" is a smart, imaginative little oddity.
COPYRIGHT©
2002 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
2002 Reviews
(alphabetical)
2002 Reviews (by star
rating)
Archive of all cinema reviews
(alphabetical)
Review Archive
Index
UK
Critic main page
|
![[Image]](http://www.ukcritic.com/posbanr2.gif)
