O Bom Coração

I like Brian Cox, I like Paul dando. I like the premise of them, chalk and cheese characters in a seedy bar discussing life from two very different standpoints. This is what i was expecting. But for me it got much too busy. Too many inconsequential characters, uninteresting backstory for the Cox character, the hospital scenarios were hackneyed tropes repeated ad nauseam.

Despite the, at times laugh out loud humour, it was a dark depressing film, not helped by the bar interior, seedy yes, but this was Victorian workhouse bleak.

Left me feeling disappointed, that an opportunity had been missed. It wasn't the film I wanted to see, left me feeling sad tbh.

This movie is about Brian Cox... Director Dagur Kari provides a stage. Paul Dano is great being a looking-glass. But Brian Cox's Jacques is monumental, he literally carries the action from the first second he steps in. He energizes the viewer, no matter how one classifies his moral actions. The bar scene is one of surrealistic charm, dwelled by decameronesque characters and maintained as a personal fiefdom by Jacques. The short story on the cover is "A bartender takes a young homeless man in under his wing" but there is so MUCH more to it. Lucas (Paul Dano) represents here a humanity clear of prejudice, pure and immortal. The suicide attempt doesn't stop him. Nor does death itself, his heart symbolically living on in another body. Supporting actress Isild le Besco is somehow incongruous, offering not believable French accented replies. Underwhelming, as her debut movies in France, where her naked skin prevails. Probably a strong actress, I am thinking here Emily Mortimer, or Marie-Louise Parker, or, -if they really wanted a French one, how about Sandrine Kiberlain? -would have done much better. Solidly memorable, Brian Cox gives this movie so much personality and energy that only true talent can offer. In line with Anthony Hopkins and Ben Kingsley, Cox is another Musqueteer of a generation of powerful performances from Britain to enchant us. Watch this great movie, and a bar will never look the same to you!

This film is about a bitter bar owner who insults everyone he sees. He encounters a homeless young man with a good nature, and takes him as his apprentice in the bar.

"The Good Heart" is filmed artistically. The mostly dark colour scheme, and the old and bleak sets augment the film's dismal atmosphere. The story follows a predictable pattern, as two individuals with vastly different personalities collide, they change each other. Brian Cox puts on a great performance as a character who is bitter and cold. Paul Dano's character is very good natured to the point that he is vulnerable to exploitation. He has the good heart, which I did not imagine it to have a literal meaning. However, the slow pacing and the overly bleak atmosphere hurt the enjoyment factor. If this story was filmed as a light hearted comedy, it would have worked better.

Brian Cox & Paul Dano are a remarkable pairing in a film that doesn't really accomplish much, but somehow remains okay. Jacques, a bitter bartender looking for someone to carry on his legacy stumbles upon Lucas, a homeless young adult who is hopelessly giving. The pairing between the two is what allows the film to float above complete disaster, as their on screen chemistry elevates the otherwise nonexistent storyline to a level slightly beyond entriguing. As Jacques determines to break the kid and turn him into a "proper bartender", one who does not help people but destroys them, he finds a kid unwilling to bend in his giving ways. This changes Jacques, but the seeds of contempt Jacques has planted within Lucas in his "lessons of life" rub a lot deeper. This movie would've easily gotten an 8 had it ended about 5 minutes earlier. I must say that there was a scene in the beginning where I knew exactly what would happen at the end of the film, and this not only cripples any film revolving around this as a plot device, it destroys the very purpose of the entire piece. The only reason to watch this film is Brian Cox & Paul Dano's amazing on screen chemistry, and that alone places this film slightly above palatable.

Brilliantly dark and hilarious. Shot in a bar in Reicuvic, Iceland by the director of Noi Albinoi, and the two brilliant actors from the mesmerising L.I.E. With a brilliant performance from Brian Cox.

The director has the way of putting his own Icelandic feel to this movie with its very greenish feel in the artistic shots. which were shot in New York and a mocked-up bar in Reicuvic.

Totally brilliant humour throughout mixed with the serious moody Brian Cox and upbeat Paul Dano, merges together once again to give a good mix.

Definitely the best thing I have seen in the 2010 EIFF, and one I recommend for all to see.