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The Movie: Author Stephen King is an American Institution when it comes to words on the printed page. Since his first novel Carrie published in 1974. King has written over 20 novels, countless short stories and numerous works of fiction and non fiction. Over the years King's fan base has continued to grow and his new works often debut at the top of the best sellers list. At the height of Kings popularity the author became frustrated with his fans claiming that they weren't buying the books for their quality but just because of his name on the cover. It was then that King decided to take on the pen name of Richard Bachman to test his theory. Through this time he continued to release books under the name Stephen King as well as under his new alias. Eventually word about this came out and King returned to writing soley under his original name This lasted until 1996 when King once again used the name Bachman to tell the story of The Regulators. King's usual focus is on the dark horror or science fiction genres. This is evident in stories like Cujo, Christine, Pet Semetary and Needful Things. However this is not King's exclusive focus but mearly the focus of the majority of his full length novels. In his short stories he focuses on many different ideas including more personal based stories. King's work has often been adapted in Hollywood but unlike the success of his published work he hasn't always had the best of luck in Tinsel town. For every Carrie, The Shinning and Shawshank Redemption there is a Needful Things or Thinner. Perhaps one of the biggest hits King has had was the 1998 Academy Award Best Picture nominated The Green Mile. The Green Mile was based on a series of short stories published in 1996. Now another of King's short works gets made into a movie in director Scott Hicks (Shine), "Hearts In Atlantis". Set in a small town in the early 60's "Hearts In Atlantis" tells the story of young Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) who lives alone with his mother in a modest sized house. Bobby's father had died 6 years prior leaving his mother Elizabeth (Hope Davis) with the burden of paying the bills and keeping food on the table. On the day of his 11th birthday Bobby hopes to receive the bike he has been eyeing in the window of a local shop for quite sometime. Instead of the bike his mother gives him a library card, not just any library card but an adult one. She explains that she wanted to get him the bike, but she couldn't afford it. Bobby is a bit upset, but he understands and goes about his plans to play with his friends Sully (Will Rothhaar) and Carol (Mika Boorem). Bobby and Carol think of each other as best of friends but it's clear that their relationship will soon develop further. Later that day a man arrives from out of town to become the new upstairs tenant at the Garfields. The man has a sense of mystery surrounding him as his luggage doesn't match and he appears out of thin air. The man introduces himself as Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) and heads to his room to settle in. That night Elizabeth has to work late and cancel Bobby's birthday dinner. Bobby begins to talk to Ted. Ted is a well spoken man with a sort of ageless wisdom. He asks Bobby about life in the small town, his friends and the women of his life. The next day Ted offers Bobby a job reading the newspaper headlines to him each day for the pay of $1/week. Bobby wants to know what the catch is and Ted explains that since Bobby knows everything that's going on in the area that Bobby can help him look out for strange men or strange signs. Bobby questions the likely hood of this happening but tells Ted that "He'll protect him from the bogeyman". Bobby starts his new job and quickly becomes great friends with Ted. Ted also tells Bobby things he doesn't want to here like that he will kiss Carol "and it will be the kiss that all others are measured to". Meanwhile Elizabeth continues to miss out on events in Bobby's life as she tries to advance her career and although she never has money for Bobby's bike she always seems to be buying new dresses for herself. All is going fine until one day strange signs start popping up on street posts in the town. "Hearts In Atlantis" is a coming of age story chronicling the lives of a small town boy, his friends and an old man that mysteriously enters their lives. It deals with 3 key relationships, Bobby's relationship with Ted, Bobby relationship with Carol and the relationship between Bobby and his mother. All 3 have their differences and lack something the others offer. Bobby relationship with Ted is sort of a father/mentor type as Bobby was too young to really know his father before his death. Carol is an amazing almost angelic type girl. The type every boy wishes he could meet. When Bobby needed her she was there for him, when she needed him he was there for her. Bobby's relationship with his mother was lacking, she was never around and seemed to care for herself more then her son. She still loves him and doesn't want anything or anyone to harm him. She's just too busy focusing on herself to really notice it. As is the standard in a film based on the work of Stephen King, there is also a supernatural aspect to the story. In this case Ted has the ability to sort of go into people minds and see what they are thinking. This comes in handy to rescue Bobby and Carol from danger a few times but also adds to the paranoid worry about the strange men that arrive in the town. The supernatural aspect is kept in check though as it adds rather then distracts from the central theme of the film. The cast in "Hearts In Atlantis" is top notch and aside from Sir Anthony Hopkins is made up mostly of little known actors and actresses. The primary focus of the story lies with the character of Bobby who is played to perfection by relative newcomer Anton Yelchin. Yelchin is given the very difficult task of appearing in nearly every scene. For many of today's current child actors this task would be daunting enough, but even more so here as this is only Yelchin's 3rd feature. Yelchin however shines through giving a magical and inspiring performance above and beyond the expectations of this moviegoer. This is the best performance I've seen from a child actor since Haley Joel Osment in The 6th Sense. Mika Boorem, who was last seen in the thriller "Along Came a Spider", plays the role of Carol in the movie. Carol is a strong female character who cares deeply for Bobby and also forms a bond with Ted. Mika, who I thought gave a standout performance in 'Spider, once again comes across on the screen as an angelic, wise actress with talent that goes far beyond her young years. She is perfectly cast in this role and has excellent chemistry with Yelchin, who she had worked with previously in "Along Came a Spider". Hope Davis displays a range of emotions in her role as Elizabeth, Bobby's mother but doesn't quite match the performance she gave in "Next Stop, Wonderland". Rounding out the cast is Sir Anthony Hopkins and what can one say about him that hasn't been said before. Anthony, or Tony as he likes to be called on the set, is just an amazing actor who brings class and dignity to whatever he does. Even in his worst movies it's hard not to like Anthony. Also appearing is David Morse (Proof of Life) and Alan Tudyk (A Knight's Tale). Screenwriter William Goldman has had his share of hits and misses. Goldman has been writing for the screen for over 30 years and has written such films as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", "The Princess Bride", "Misery" and "All the Presidents Men". This is Goldman's second King adaptation ,the first being for "Misery", which Kathy Bates won the Oscar for. Goldman has taken King's book of 5 short stories and used the key aspects of two to tell this story. I think he has done an excellent job. The dialogue may not be perfect and some aspects of the film seemed rushed over or thrown in for the most part this is a very strong screenplay. Director Scott Hicks (Shine, Snow Falling on Ceders) is a director whose work I hadn't seen prior to this film. His previous two films came out at a time in my life when I was just getting my footing back in the world of cinema, but now I'm really regretting missing them. Hicks does a great, but not flawless job with this film. The inclusion of an introductory sequence and a coda troubled me as I would have rather seen the film end in the 60s. Still, this was one of just a few minor faults I found with the film. Shot by the late cinematographer Pitor Sobociniksi the film has a very beautiful look to it with some amazing scenery. Piotor who was responsible for the photography of the Color Trilogy had a unique visual style that will be missed by all. Hearts In Atlantis is a film that surprised me. The trailer interested me only enough to get me in the door. Thankfully it doesn't really do the film justice. It's a sharply written, excellent coming of age story. It's only faults are that it's over far too soon and the scenes that take place outside of the 60's seem out of place. At 95 minutes the film just zips by. "Hearts In Atlantis" has an excellent cast led by youngsters Yelchin and Boorem and supported by the veteran Hopkins. "Hearts In Atlantis" is well worth seeing and I highly recommend you do give it a chance. Reviewed September 24 by Mark McLeod |