American Heart (1992)

Director:

Martin Bell

Writers (WGA):

Peter Silverman (story) &
Martin Bell (story) ...

Release Date:

7 May 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Tagline:

Jack's only hope was a dream... Nick's only hope was jack.

Plot:

Jack is now out of jail and he meets Nick, his adolescent son. Their relationship will be complicated, because Jack has a problem with alcohol. But his love for Nick will help him to get over the past and reach his dreams.

Plot Keywords:

Prison | Beer | Joint | Transvestite | Female Frontal Nudity

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

John Boylan	...	Janitor
Jeff Bridges	...	Jack Kelson
Edward Furlong	...	Nick Kelson
Greg Sevigny	...	Young Jack
Jayne Entwistle	...	Monique
Willie Williams	...	The Gospel Fireballs
Roosevelt Franklin	...	The Gospel Fireballs
Melvyn Hayward	...	Normandy
Don Harvey	...	Rainey
Kit McDonough	...	Landlady
Wren Walker	...	Lisa
Cristine McMurdo-Wallis	...	School Administrator
Lucinda Jenney	...	Charlotte
Charlotte London	...	Flo
Loyd Catlett	...	Vernon the Bartender

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | USA:TV-MA (cable rating) | Iceland:L | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Seattle, Washington, USA

Company:

American Heart Productions

Trivia:

The story is based on the relationship between a young runaway in the 1980s named Dewayne and his father who was incarcerated for robbery and attempted arson. They can both be seen in the 1984 documentary, Streetwise, which focuses on several of Seattle's runaway youth in the 1980s. Dewayne committed suicide at the age of 14. The story was later developed by Peter Silverman. Martin Bell, Mary Ellen Mark. Then, Silverman and Bell wrote the screenplay.

Quotes:

Nick Kelson: My crib's upstairs.
Molly: You sleep in a crib?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Big City Dick: Richard Peterson's First Movie (2004)

Soundtrack:

Slow Hand

Refreshingly honest and very well acted

This is a dramatic, narrative film by Martin Bell, the director of the excellent documentary "Streetwise". And while it is obvious Bell was a little uncomfortable with the narrative format, it is one of the few independent films of the 1990's that doesn't suffer from the Quentin Tarantino syndrome--i.e. it is not just a pastiche of other movies the director has seen. It's clear Bell based a lot of this movie on real life. In fact, many of the characters here were obviously based on real people in "Streetwise"--the kid and his ex-con father, the tomboy lesbian, the 14-year-old amateur hooker. The movies suffers a little in comparison to early Gus Van Sant films ("Mala Noche","Drugstore Cowboy", "My Own Private Idaho")which had similar down-and-out characters and were also set in the American Northwest. But many will find this film refreshingly honest and less pretentious, at least, than some of Van Sant's films.

What really makes this film is the acting. It marked Jeff Bridges return to independent film (five or six years before "The Big Lebowski"), and his performance here makes one forgive him for the Hollywood crap he made in the 80's like "Against All Odds". Edward Furlong is also very good. I remember reading some alarmist claptrap about him in Premiere magazine around the time of this movie, about how he was dating a 30-year-old woman (oh, the horror! the horror!) and about to become another young Hollywood casualty. Well, starting with this film he ended up carving a nice little niche for himself in independent film (i.e. "Pecker", "Animal Factory"). Turns out that just because you're not starring in "Terminator 3" it doesn't necessarily mean you're sharing needles in a crack house with guys named Corey and girls named Shannen. And as a little icing on the cake this movie has a great Tom Waits theme song which you can't find any of his albums. Definitely a recommended movie.