Heart of America

Jurgen Prochnow and Michael Pare star as a principal and teacher of an average high school that has a columbine style shooting that will take the lives of many students of course along the way we will run into characters who deserve to die and those who don't, the main point of interest is Prochnow and Pare who don't really strike one as the faculty type. I myself teach and well for one, this movie fails to convince me as anything resembling reality. Whether it be with teachers or students. Michael Pare's character plays a teacher who openly mocks his student's work. If such a thing ever happened you would be suspended or even dismissed because we encourage, not laugh at a student's work. Okay, I don't teach English (Pretty sure you can tell, whoever has glanced at my reviews) however it is pretty basic that all a teacher can take points off for, is grammar errors rather than content of such material. At least at high school level. Anyway the movie itself fails to convince one of the students and their plights because it is far too overwrought in the humiliation sequences. These humiliation sequences that these kids put the shooters through is something more at home in Last House On The Left rather than a school yard. Kids do not force other kids to take their clothes off and eat feces, rather they beat up on them. A far better film wouldn't have had any motivation of the killer's part and therefore it would feel more subtle and honest. There are some strong sequences such as the final showdown between the shooter and his tormentor but it is treated as just desserts and I for one can't bring myself to say that this has something rational to say if it is treated like an action movie. However despite a few bizarre moments of camera angles, such as the part which is supposed to simulate a drug haze, Heart Of America is Boll's most competent effort I've seen and although the results are fairly watchable, It is quite obvious that Boll is oblivious in telling a story. He lacks subtleness and that is a big flaw in all his films. Also Prochnow and Pare as principal and teacher? Did Uwe Boll see Eddie And The Cruisers and Das Boot?

* * out of 4-(Fair)

Movie #4 of my Uwe Boll marathon (and second I've watched today) and I really don't know what to think about it. Most movies you rate on enjoyability, but this movie obviously wasn't supposed to be entertaining and I know that so it feels weird giving it an absolutely awful rating, but also it just...I don't know what its trying to say??? I do like that the main message seems to be "the extreme violence in schools is caused by the already existent violence by peers" and doesn't take the path of blaming it on media and video games, that's a very mature take on it, granted if he DID say that, then he'd retroactively say all of his future movies cause mass shootings so it just makes sense that he doesn't believe that (and I don't either.) Just, there's so much weird and strange and I don't understand about this film. Nearly 45+ minutes of it could've been cut from the film and not changed it in any way.

Heart of America, released in Australia as "Home Room", is a well acted and finely crafted film. Uwe Boll tackles a most difficult subject matter with a grace and subtlety that you would not expect from the director of "Alone In The Dark" and "House Of The Dead". Somewhat predictably, Uwe's armchair critics have been sharpening their knives over this film as well. Do these people have anything better to do than rant about a relatively obscure film director's shortcomings? Don't be put off by Uwe's undeserved reputation as the king of crap; Heart of America is a great film.

Heart of America is one of several films to be inspired by recent high school shooting tragedies. This may sound like a perverse topic for Uwe Boll to examine given his subsequent devotion to making gory horror movies. However, Boll has crafted a surprisingly intelligent and thought provoking film. More impressively, Uwe succeeds where the likes of Gus Van Sant have failed - unlike "Elephant", Heart of America actually makes for interesting viewing. By treating this theme within the context of what appears to be a straight forward teen drama, Boll allows viewers to get to know the characters before plunging into tragedy. This makes the eventual outcome all the more affecting.

One of the few complaints about Uwe Boll that carries some validity is his tendency to overlook any kind of character development. This makes the in depth character study in Heart of America all the more satisfying. The lives of both the shooters and the victims are explored, which provides a balanced insight into the circumstances that can lead to such inexplicable events and puts a human face to the perpetrators of such acts. The film is interestingly constructed, revealing a group of very different but equally unhappy and disillusioned teens. One reviewer described these characters as stereotypes and I could not disagree more. The characters are almost hyper-real. The drug dealer might look like an extra from "The O.C." but the bullied teenagers, the frustrated teacher and the perplexed principal are all wonderfully realised.

The acting in the film is mostly outstanding. Once again, Boll has collected a fantastic cast - Juergen Prochnow and Michael Pare are at their very best. It's nice to see a cameo from Maria Conchita Alonso as a school counsellor and Boll regular Will Sanderson is great as the town loser. The younger actors are mostly fine, with the exception of the pregnant girl and the wooden Barbie doll playing the principal's daughter.

The film works best when exploring the lives of its teen characters. The scenes of bullying and the flashback to the rape of a disabled girl are bleak, gritty and powerful. The look on the brother's face as he hears his idolised sibling recount the rape is devastating. The film loses its way occasionally (what was with the secretary and her bizarre hand gesture to celebrate the last day of school?) but everything is held together by slick editing and a very clever script. I have always enjoyed Uwe's unique directorial skills and he outdoes himself here. I can't wait for more computer game adaptations but after seeing this I hope he squeezes another hard hitting drama into his schedule.

Heart of America is a riveting film that deserves a bigger audience. This film is eloquent and thought provoking, while still managing to be interesting and entertaining. This movie should be judged on its merits, not the subsequent films of its director.

Uwe Boll isn't exactly a name I praise very highly, actually his movies 'House of the dead' and 'Alone In The Dark' are 2 of the worst movies I've seen.

He does get it right occasionally though, with for instance 'Rampage' and 'Assault On WallStreet' oddly enough both those have a similar theme of mass-shootings as this one, perhaps that's a subjectmatter that Uwe simply connects with the most and thereby where he shines the most in doing.

I have no idea why this is so low rated, I think it could have to do with 2 things:

1. Although it's inspired by Columbine a lot of things have been changed around and perhaps people thought that that was wrong or...

2. The shooters are portrayed as humans, not just psychos going on a rampage and some of the victims are indeed seen as "asking for it". And that might have rubbed some Americans the wrong way, who'd want nothing more than to believe that kids who commit this acts are born monsters.

It's not a flawless movie tho, as it is a ensemble-dramathriller some characters aren't as interesting as others but Brendan Fletcher is amazing as the lead-bully they really couldn't have found anyone better for the job.

Most of the cast does a very good job tho but he and Kett Turton stands out the most and are the main focus of the movie.

It's probably Uwe Boll's greatest movie.

I wanted to watch this one because of Michaela Mann, and I didn't know what it was about. After seeing it was Uwe Boll directing i was a little surprised to so many reputable and excellent actors: Moss, Prochnow, Muldoon, Fletcher, Will xXxX and Paré The movie is clearly about Columbine, just like Gus van Sant's "Elephant" is. However, HoA lacks the quality and artistry of Elephant. And also, it lacks guts, given the conclusion at the end when the reporter DARES to blame computer games for school shootings rather than bullying and availability oof guns. Europe has just as many computer game players, Japan has extreme bullying, neither has a smidge of the American school shooting numbers. So, this movie breathes mediocrity: it's a dumbed down version of Elephant, a straight and very predictable flick. The actual horror is unintentional and comes at the end when several school rampages until 2002 are listed and their death count seem insignificant compared to the rampages in the 2 decades after, Florida, Virginia tech, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Breivik and Dylan Rooff