Crooked Hearts

As a young boy, Tom admires his older brother Charley (Vincent D'Onofrio). He follows him to the local diner hangout. Charley talks to Tom's crush waitress Jennetta. She tells them that she's willing to wait for their father (Peter Coyote) to settle matters. Some years later, Tom (Peter Berg) drops out of Berkley to go home. Ask (Noah Wyle), Charley, and Cassie (Juliette Lewis) are still living at home with mom (Cindy Pickett) and dad. Charley is bitter to escape but can't pull away from the gravity of the family. Tom dates Marriet Hoffman (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who is equally adrift in the world after leaving L.A. The family is slowly imploding from everybody's secrets.

This is one dysfunctional family. I like everyone in this cast although this may not be their most impressive performances. I was feeling this movie for the first half until the fire. I like the fire but the fire should be the climax. It can't get more climatic than the fire. The stuff after the fire is the family chasing their own tales. This family is not getting fixed without a healthy dose of psychotherapy. They need a cleansing fight to finish off the story so that they can start anew. It just drags on too long.

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.

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

How to parents name their child Ask? The female roles are weak. Vincent Do nofrio has always been an actor that's a bit off. In some of his movies you wonder what you will get. From his dark portrail of a newly minted soldier in basic training, to this movie where he seems normal, then to his later movies where that dark person returns. This show reminds me of one of my favorite shows Crash, from 2004. You have to watch it a few times to understand the different movies within the movie. I liked the movie. I saved it and will watch again and again.

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