Hearts in Atlantis (2001)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Scott Hicks

Writers (WGA):

Stephen King (book)
William Goldman (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 September 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

What if one of life's great mysteries moved in upstairs?

Plot:

A widowed mother and her son change when a mysterious stranger enter their lives.

Plot Keywords:

Kiss | Bully | Mysterious Stranger | Stephen King | First Kiss

Awards:

2 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Anthony Hopkins	...	Ted Brautigan
Anton Yelchin	...	Bobby Garfield
Hope Davis	...	Liz Garfield
Mika Boorem	...	Carol Gerber
David Morse	...	Adult Bobby Garfield
Alan Tudyk	...	Monte Man
Tom Bower	...	Len Files
Celia Weston	...	Alana Files
Adam LeFevre	...	Don Biderman
Will Rothhaar	...	John Sullivan
Timothy Reifsnyder	...	Harry Doolin (as Timmy Reifsnyder)
Deirdre O'Connell	...	Mrs. Gerber
Terry Beaver	...	Mr. Oliver
Joe T. Blankenship	...	Richie O'Rourke
Brett Fleisher	...	Willie Shearman

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence and thematic elements.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38401) | South Korea:12 | Japan:U | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:12 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Peru:14 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12

Filming Locations:

Dinwiddie, Virginia, USA

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

The story on which this film was based originally contained references to Stephen King's "Dark Tower" series, which is set in a parallel universe somehow linked to our own. The character of Ted Brautigan later appeared in King's seventh and final Dark Tower novel, "The Dark Tower".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When Bobby picks up the payphone, we hear a modern dialtone. That tone was not introduced until the late-1960s, along with the introduction of touch-tone dialing.

Quotes:

Bobby: Why do we always expect home to stay the same? Nothing else does.

Movie Connections:

References Stand by Me (1986)

Soundtrack:

Taps

Wouldn't've missed a minute of it.

To many, Stephan King is a well of horror, Lovecraftian chill that creeps upon us in the dead of night. So when his fantasy of insight comes along, they are struck blind, disappointed, let down by the mildness of the tale.

Director Hicks, screenplay writer Goldman, and the superlative team of Mr. Hopkins and young Yelchin have brought alive this artist's touch of Mr. King, in a finely crafted, sensitive film that just departs from the four walls of our mundane reality. In many subtle touches throughout the film, we -- even those of us Constant Readers who would read Mr. King's laundry list if he published it -- are guided through Goldman's skillful adaptation of the original novel.

Better than the book? Worse? No, this humble viewer will just say that the film can stand on its own, if we are just willing to let our eyes be opened to what can be.