16 lines
1.9 KiB
Plaintext
16 lines
1.9 KiB
Plaintext
synopsis : bobby garfield ( yelchin ) lives in a small town with his mirthless widowed mother ( hope davis ) .
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bobby's world revolves around his friends , especially the spritely carol ( boorem ) .
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then one day , a new boarder arrives at bobby's house .
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ted brautigan ( hopkins ) is an enigmatic man to whom bobby takes an immediate liking .
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as the bond between bobby and ted deepens , bobby becomes privy to ted's great secret , an event which will change both of their lives forever .
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review : a small but enchanting movie , " hearts in atlantis " easily recalls another king-inspired coming-of-age film , " stand by me " , both in terms of its setting and the sentiment it conveys .
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" hearts " is a tribute to the magic of childhood , to those summers when the days seem neverending , and nothing means more than your closest friends .
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unlike " stand by me " , there is a supernatural element to " hearts " , but although it is key to the plot , it is not prominent .
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like " stand by me " , this is a mostly character-driven film , and as such it benefits greatly from superb casting .
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yelchin is very good as bobby , finding a good mix of innocence and resignation .
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more splendid still is boorem , whom i praised highly for her work in " along came a spider " and who is simply radiant here as carol .
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and then there is hopkins , who despite playing such a quiet , introspective character as ted , nonetheless commands our attention every time he is onscreen .
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less successful is davis , whose strident elizabeth comes across as overly cartoonish .
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i also found it odd that bobby and carol's other friend , sully ( whose death as an adult sets up the movie's flashback framing device ) , is paid virtually no attention .
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but hicks' direction is lovely without being cloying , and despite the movie's general lack of incident , it never ceases to weave its spell over the audience .
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