Strange Hearts

Maybe they should have used the alternate title, "Rat in the Can," instead of "Strange Hearts." Of course, if you go looking for "Strange hearts" on cable, you will have better luck trying "Roads to Riches."

But, "Rat in the Can" is a good title to describe just how far Jack Waters (Robert Forster) has fallen in his luck. It's his million-dollar idea, and it's a winner if he can manage to go through with it. Forster (Jackie Brown) plays a lovable loser, who just can't get his act together. It is going to cost him the love of his life, Moira (Rose McGowan, who plays what I consider her best role to date as a stripper.) Smooth talking Texan Henry (Kip Pardue - Remember the Titans) is working his charm to drag her back home to keep her barefoot and pregnant.

"Friends" fans will find this slow, but it is a good romantic indie film.

Breathtakingly ridiculous dialog, wholly unlikely plot features, and characters who seem crafted specifically to mock any attempt to take them seriously didn't stop this amazing mess from being made (of what, though? One imagines there had to be some promising kernel that ended up flowering into this egregious waste of time.) and never cleaned up. Hence, it's clear that *anything* can find the financing to see celluloid (or HD), although the process by which this one got finished would have to be more interesting than the film itself. It's entirely possible that the film's off-kilter pacing and made-for-70s-TV sensibilities could eventually land it a cult gig, but of course there's always a lot of competition for those; perhaps a film-school tale-of-caution will be this three-titled train-wreck's legacy.

I loved this film. Rose M is all grown up and Forester couldn't be better. It moved me. i loved this movie. The fragile balance in life between what we mean and what we say are well explored. The consequnce of inaction is heartbreaking and can hurt us more than the things we do say. Well done.

Strange Hearts is probably one of the biggest film surprises I've had all year, it's a very well-done little independent film that deserves much more then a straight-to-dvd release. The story revolves around Jack, a down-trodden middle-aged man who's best friends with a mysterious and very disturbed young woman called Moira. Their friendship is stretched when a young man, called Henry, enters their lives. Henry, a strangely lucky guy, "steals" Moira away from Jack, unaware of her emotional fragilities and disturbing past, forcing Jack, who treasures Moira more then anything AND who you start feeling very sorry for by now, to put his luck to the test and gamble on everything he has.

The entire cast is exceptional. Robert Foster's renowned charisma shines through in many ways, and Kip Pardue is very hateable as the cocky Henry. Rose McGowan (who I've become very interested in since seeing this movie) is probably the stand-out of the film, utilising her interesting role to the very hilt and stealing every scene she is in. First-time director and screen writer Michelle Gallagher delivers a powerful punch on her debut, and I look forward to seeing what she has to offer in the future.

Overall Strange Hearts is a thoroughly enjoyable drama, that really makes us think about how much of a big part friendship, trust and loyalty play in all our lives. A definite 3/4.

I loved this film...I felt sorry about the rat in the can but still I loved it hehe. Rose McGowan's all grown up since Jawbreaker, which was so awful. This movie proves that even she can be emmotional, away from "Charmed" which she totally blowed. GREAT job to all the cast, exellent done guys!!