Hearts in Atlantis (28 September 2001)
directed by Scott Hicks
starring Anthony Hopkins, Anton Yelchin, Hope Davis, David Morse, Mika Boorem, Will Rothhaar, Alan Tudyk
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MPAA rating: Studio: Castle Rock Entertainment, NPV Entertainment Script: William Goldman Based on the book by: Stephen King Music: Mychael Danna Running time: 101 minutes Tags: coming-of-age; Drama; FBI; novel adaptation; psychic abilities; rape Tactical strength: [6/10]
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for violence and thematic elements
As he demonstrated with Stand and Deliver and The Green Mile, Steven King can write great nostalgia pieces. And with the Steven King brand at your side, you have the budget to get the cast and crew that makes all the difference between a touching coming-of-age story and just another B movie. In this case money buys success in the form of academy award winners like William Goldman, who wrote the screenplay, and Anthony Hopkins, who easily turns even the most campy line into a philosophical statement.
Hearts in Atlantis starts out with a frame story set in the present. Robert Garfield (David Morse) learns that his best friends from his childhood have both died. Robert returns to his old home town for the funeral and visits his childhood home, now a condemned building. In the house, he remembers the summer he turned 11 -- the summer Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) moved into the attic apartment.
Young Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) lives with his mother, Elizabeth (Hope Davis), in a run down part of town. Elizabeth works as a receptionist in a real estate agency, and she takes every opportunity to discredit Bobby's father. She blames Bobby's father for her poverty, although she spends most of her spare money on new clothes for herself instead of a birthday present for her son. When Ted Brautigan arrives with two suitcases and two grocery bags, Elizabeth tells Bobby that, "You shouldn't trust people who carry their possessions in grocery bags."
In spite of his mother's warning, Bobby soon adopts Ted as a surrogate father. Ted offers to pay Bobby $1 per week to read the paper aloud and to keep a lookout for the Low Men. The Low Men (implied FBI agents) want to take advantage of Ted's special abilities, a combination of fortune telling, clairvoyance, and remote viewing. Ted also temporarily passes on these abilities to those who touch him. But Ted passes on a more important gift: self-confidence. Through Ted, Bobby learns that his opinions matter, that he can stand up for himself, and that he can overcome the numerous disappointments in life: the loss of his father, a neglectful mother, and the Low Men taking Ted away.
So what message should we take from Hearts in Atlantis? Childhood provides our happiest moments, and adulthood sucks? More likely, Anthony Hopkins can make just about any role interesting. Without Hopkins, Hearts would join the long list of ho-hum we-preferred-life-in-the-1950s movies. You get a nice warm feeling from Hearts along with a bit of tension as Bobby must face the neighborhood bully and Ted's Low Men. When the film returns to the modern-day frame story, Robert smiles with his warm memories and acknowledges that knowing Ted made all the difference in his life -- just as Hopkins made this film watchable and even occasionally enjoyable.
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