Coeurs perdus en Atlantide

There are two distinct dimensions to Stephen King's writing. On the one hand he is most widely known as the horror meister who can churn out novels quicker than most of us can go through toilet paper. Then there is the King who knows when to leave the schlock behind and tell a good, character driven, yarn.

This is the King who penned Hearts in Atlantis, along with similar captivating stories turned into film such as Stand By Me, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

Told in flashback, it is the story of a young boy who is mentored by a psychically gifted border (Hopkins) with a shadowy past who is renting the upstairs room in his mother's house. He instructs the boy to be on the lookout for the "low men" who are persuing him. It tells the story of lives and loves lost in the fleeting wonder of youth. Filled with metaphor, this is a gem of a film. View it for the acting. View it for the cinematography. View it for the art direction. View it for the directing. But most of all, view it for the wonderful story that it is. It will captivate you and leave you wishing it would go on forever.

For some, Stephen King is just a mere auteur of horror stories. If you look closer, you'll see he is much more. Nearly all his stories are melancholic tales about the loss of childhood innocence. With a paranormal twist, but that really isn't the most important. I even think that Hearts in Atlantis would have worked even better, if the whole paranormal thing would have been left out. The most interesting aspects of the story are Bobby Garfield and his relationship with his mother, girlfriend and Ted. Whenever Ted brought up the low-men, my personal interest curve got a bit of a dip, but hey it's a Stephen King movie, I guess we'll have to live with it.

As it is, Hearts in Atlantis remains a wonderful film. It's the kind of film where the scenes in the present are filmed in gloomy blue and grey tones, and all the flashbacks get a golden sepia treatment. Sure it's been done before, but rarely have the effects been of such a shattering beauty.

Anthony Hopkins, never shy of giving a bombastic performance, is remarkably soft-spoken in this one, though I doubt that he was really interested in this movie. The star of the show, however, is Anton Yelchin as Bobby Garfield. He looks like the young Elijah Wood, with the same angelic blue eyes, and he's truly captivating. He even has genuine chemistry with the girl that plays his love interest. A big fat ‘wow' is in order here, let's hope he'll get the chance to exploit his talents further.

It's a shame this movie failed at the box-office, but then again so did The Shawshank Redemption. So let's all rent/buy this wonderful film, and boost that IMDb score.

I gave this one a 9/10.

This movie was a great surprise! I never read the Stephen King novel that this film comes from, but as always, King has crafted an intriguing and absorbing story.

Anthony Hopkins never disappoints and his performance as Ted Brautigan here is no different.

Brautigan lives upstairs from young Bobby Garfield and his widowed mother and a friendship soon develops between Bobby and Ted. Bobby knows that there is something different about Ted, and the bond between them grows when Bobby starts uncovering some of Ted's secrets. Bobby's father passed away when he was very young and he has no knowledge of who his father was except the word of his neglectful mother that his father was a drunkard and gambler. Bobby, through Ted learns a lot about his father, and more importantly, himself.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot of this wonderful movie, especially if like me you have not read the book. This is a thoughtful, insightful, well written and well acted movie and is definitely a part of my own library.

Dont miss Hearts in Atlantis.. you will be sorry if you do!! 8/10

I saw Hearts in Atlantis last night, and I have to say that the more I think about it, the more I like it. After it was over, I couldn't help but remember my "Atlantis." The town in which I grew up in was certainly one of the best places in world. I lived there from the time I was born, until I was 18. Hearts in Atlantis made me remember what it was like to be a kid, and to really not have a care in the world (except what time all my friends were going to meet to play football or baseball). Of course I understand now that there is much more to life then riding bikes and playing games, but a part of me wishes I could go back, just for one more day. I loved when the Hopkins character explained how when you're a kid a day could last forever, and the place in which you lived seemed almost like a paradise...like Atlantis must have seemed. This movie made me remember my "Atlantis," and I am glad that I saw it.

Sure to be one of the best-loved films of this fall, "Hearts in Atlantis" adapted from Stephen King's best seller mines a lot of familiar territory from "Stand by Me," but that beloved film is a good model. In "Stand by Me," it was a writer reflecting back on the childhood summer "when we found the body," here it's David Morse as a photographer remembering the summer of his eleventh year "when Ted the boarder moved upstairs." Downplaying King's supernatural elements, this film slowly, but surely, builds to an emotional payoff every bit as moving as the end of Rob Reiner's gem.

This is a small, gentle film with lots of character development and period atmosphere. The tech credits such as production design and cinematography are superb and bring to life a time--1960--which, for some of us, was not that long ago. The child-actors are perfectly cast, and Anthony Hopkins as the mysterious stranger gives one of his best, most-heartfelt performances. (This guy could read USA Today weather forecasts aloud and make them sound like Shakespeare.) While others may have taken a radically different approach to the material, emphasizing action and suspense, I think screenwriter William ("Misery") Goldman and director Scott ("Shine," "Snow Falling on Cedars") Hicks ultimately hit the right notes. I will interested in seeing if this decidedly low-key approach strikes a box office chord with moviegoers frazzled by the big, dumb summer action films. If there's any fairness left in the world it will. It's that good.