Crooked Hearts

The cast looked promising, but I was stunned to read the other comments about this movie. To compare this to Shakespeare would make the Bard spin in his grave. Not only did it not "grow on me" but I found it increasingly painful to view. The pain then turned to laughter as we started realize how stupid this movie actually was with it's predictable dialog and it's made-for-TV feel, straight from the Lifetime channel.The only lessons to be learned here besides always making your socks match your shirt, is that you should never keep incriminating items. The Warrens are one messed up family. So if there is absolutely nothing else on, It's one of those "it's so bad it's good" things. I give it 3 stars!

Writer/Director Michael Bortman brings us a movie which will be loved by everyone who feels that the number one thing you could ever do in your life is support your family. On the surface, that may not sound like such a bad thing. After all, everyone wants to be loved and supported by their family. However, "Crooked Hearts" goes WAY past that.

The movie follows the ups and downs (mostly downs) of the Warren family. The members of this family are the type of people who would support their brother or son even if they were a convicted serial child molester. That's how obsessive and blinding their family structure is. I could never feel connected to any of the characters in this film because only one of them seemed like a nice person. To make things worse, the one nice guy is presented to us as being weak and childish.

Almost everyone in the Warren family is dishonest and selfish. In fact, at one point in the movie, being an arsonist is presented to us as simply being a very minor character flaw. This pathetic situation spirals out of control until tragedy strikes the family in one of the absolute most manipulative scenes EVER put to film.

The acting is quite good. That shouldn't surprise anyone who glances at the list of cast members. However, anyone who believes that taking responsibility for your actions is a positive trait will not enjoy this movie. Its "ethical" stance is completely at odds with anyone who believes you should be honest, thoughtful and stand up for what you believe in. 2/10

This film starts out as a portrail of idealistic family life, then desends into something much deeper and darker. Many facets of relationships are shown, especially between father and sons. I enjoyed this film I liked the central theme of "can you trust another member of your family" which seemed to be concurrent throughout the film

I saw this film recently on cable and found it almost Shakespearean in its depiction of family trouble: fundamental character flaws or weaknesses leading to tragedy, pride keeping the truth from being known when it would be better to bring things out in the open, old secrets coming back to wreak havoc.

It's not always an easy film to watch, because you want to stop certain things from happening. But every character is multi-dimensional and real, and - as in Shakespeare - there is humor in the story and hope for recovery and redemption in the end. I cared about these people and their situation.

Slow going at times, but give it a chance - it lingers.

Any movie with Jennifer Jason Leigh, my favorite actress, automatically gets at least five stars. I have never seen her play a character and be less than riveting...until this film. She just plays a very minor role. On screen for less than ten minute, she is good, but bland compared to her other performances. The same thing can be said for Juliet Lewis. She is cute and natural as the family sister, as usual, but relatively bland.

Bland is a good word for this film. The plot, acting and directing is pedestrian and average, really television show quality. All three lead brothers went on to star in television shows, Peter Berg in "Chicago Hope," Noah Wyle in "E.R." (Doctors) and Vincent D'onofrio in "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" (Detective). It is nice to see them this young, before they moved to television.

The movie is essentially about two brothers and their attempts to move away from their family. Apparently the family is a warm and loving place, but because their father had an affair with a waitress, it is all a sham. The characters keep saying that the family holds them back from doing bigger and better things, but that is not evident in anything that happens.

There are several rather interesting scenes and shots, but they are in the last 1/3 of the film. If you can get past the first hour which drags, it does improve somewhat. The burning of the father's love letters scene sticks out for the tension it builds as the letters seem to escape and start burning dangerously close to a gas station.

Their are better movies of this genre out there, but if you have seen "East of Eden," "Hotel New Hampshire," Running WithScissors, and other better dysfunctional family movies, you might consider this movie. It is dull, but has enough mildly entertaining moments to make it watchable.