Heartlands

Story: Cuckolded shopkeeping darts enthusiast, Colin, sets off cross country to win back his wife. Out of his routine life and familiar home town and passing through the beauty of the Peak District to the brashness of Blackpool, Colin meets with a series of people and incidents that shape his new life. Funny and very human.

How this film got zero publicity (apart from a few dismissive reviews) at the time of its cinematic release and is still not available on video/DVD is a mystery. It is witty, charming, beautifully shot, with excellent performances. The seven day structure to the story, in which a simple man's simple life is utterly transformed, underlines the foregoing monotony of the lives of all of the characters. The fabulous cast play their roles for all they are worth with out hamming it up. There are grotesques, but overall it is a subtle portrayal. The Northern setting allows for drab urban to glorious country to kitch seaside backdrops, and the provincial anonymity is used to indicate the everyman nature of the protagonist, not to present him as a local curio. The are any number of excellent cameos, not least Kate Rusby's set of folk songs, and the red moped!

One of the best movies I've seen in a long-time! (We rented it purely on the off-chance (there was nothing else that caught our eye).

Beautifully acted and well-directed, what really made this film for me was the cinematography; the film is beautiful shot. From the grim cityscapes of Sheffield, across the scenic Peak District, to the garish tourist-trap that is Blackpool, the film brings northern Britain to life.

The soundtrack, by British folk legends Kate Rusby and John McCusker is haunting.

A wonderful, under-rated movie that helped restore my faith in the power of cinema after one too many Hollywood CGI-fests.

Enjoy.

Its a low budget british movie, performance is somehow is decent. i actually watches alot "cheating wife" movies last few months, and i found this is really nice, because of its Ending. because most of such movies in that "adultery" category are very worst.

No matter how great it is.. "adultery /cheating" always ends bad , sad n harsh.

a story of very simple husband who try to make his wife happy best but he caught her cheating / her being unfaithful. and when he confronted her, instead she sorry , she left husband and goes for lover. then things gets interesting when husband felt bad about it and goes to win her back..

i gave the extra star for good ending. -------------------spoilers------------------------------------

the ending is good. but not that good. i almost feel bad about the movie when husband almost starts to take her back in the end. but its kinda stupid end , when husband offer her shop and she took the keys in seconds and left him. wtf? ..she was really a bad wife.

i wish he could leave her with nothing. but i guess British people wanna make sure they are gentleman .so gives a good gentle gestures to women.

Heartlands is wonderful. It is beautifully shot and, as I have come to expect of Mr. Sheen (Colin) at least, remarkably well acted. The movie made me laugh out loud - twice - without having to resort to potty jokes or sloppy slap stick humor. It also made me cry, not because it is an intrinsically sad film, but because it is in part the story of Everyman. Unless a person is remarkably dull or a recluse, there will be moments in this film that could have been taken from the pages of anyone's life. Granted the characters and situations are a bit larger, if not more colorful, than one might typically expect to encounter, it is Mr. Sheen's ability to humanize them that touches.

Without spoiling things for people who haven't seen the film, there is a scene in this movie that will stick with me forever. It is so full of simple, unburdened joy that anyone who sees it will be instantly both amused and completely charmed.

Call me Quixote, as I am off in search of windmills.....

At first sight this seemed to be one of those cheapo, feature-length, depressing British films that I have grown accustomed to over the past few years.

I could not have been further off the mark. The characters were lovable, even if they weren't very realistic. The acting was very natural, and each scene was shot beautifully.

I had not seen the Hero's Journey narrative used in this context before, but it worked well. Aided by the original Folk music score by Kate Rusby and John McCusker, the beautiful montages, and the unexpected resolution, this film brought a few tears to my eyes, and made me feel content.