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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.

I do not know of any other director that has generated so much hatred. There are petitions on the net calling for Uwe Boll to never direct again. Is he really that bad? I am viewing this film, recommended as a good example of his work, with that in mind.

The film did an excellent job of showing the motivation behind the actions of the boys. The rape of the disabled girl was no different than the physical and psychological abuse of the two boys by the jocks. It was a violation of privacy and of their bodies.

But, it wasn't just the two boys or the girl who was raped, there was also other plots going on involving teen pregnancy, pressure to have sex, and unfair teachers. Would there be more than two people to explode on the last day? The end result was very predictable and a cautionary tale of what is allowed by school officials and the result of overpopulated schools.

Bottom line: this was an interesting and engaging movie and Uwe Boll did a very good job of telling the story.

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)

I forgave Boll for the three abominations that were HotD, AitD, and In the Name of the King. As I finished this movie, I actually forgot this was an Uwe Boll film. This was terrific and moving, but it does have its flaws.

Heart of America tells the tale of three high school students who are beaten by the jocks of the school. It is the last day of school and the movie is filled with flashbacks that develop the characters rather nicely. You love some, hate some, feel sympathetic to some, and some make you laugh. The story is filled with all the situations that could go wrong on the last day of school, a pregnant girl and her boyfriend trying to make her happy, a cheating boy friend, meth, abusive parents, and some other stuff that I won't spoil.

The acting was sub par at parts and the script was ultimately weak at points. Though, some parts were very well done.

The ending left me in a moral bind, who should I hate? Whose actions were justified? This is Uwe Boll's best movie, and that IS saying something considering that I would recommend this to anyone who wants to see a thought provoking, moral dilemmaing film.

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.