Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in Chicago, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
Heart (1997)
Director: Charles McDougall
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
A tawdry, laughable, blood-soaked melodrama. Businessman Eccleston is so stressed out by sexual jealousy that he has a heart attack, which, ironically, drives spouse Hardie, a TV producer, into the arms of maverick writer Ifans. Left in a wheelchair, Eccleston is given new hope by the possibility of a heart transplant, when a young man dies in a traffic accident and his mother, Reeves, gives permission for the organ donation. Big mistake. She becomes increasingly obsessed by Eccleston since he's now carrying her dead son's heart, and intent on protecting the same from the errant Hardie. One can sense major Jacobean mayhem coming a mile off. Screenwriter McGovern and the director obviously imagined that keeping every scene pared to the bone would build up a sense of foreboding, but the relentless cutting actually comes between the viewer and the staid characters. Worse is the treatment meted out to poor Hardie, if she's not naked or mouthing unspeakable dialogue, she's on the wrong end of a blunt instrument. Not since Midnight Express has a British film gloated over tender flesh and breaking bones with such prurient zeal.Author: TJ
Cast & crew
Director: Charles McDougall
Producer: Nicola Shindler
Cast: Christopher Eccleston, Saskia Reeves, Kate Hardie, Rhys Ifans, Anna Chancellor, Bill Paterson, Matthew Rhys, Jack Deam, Kate Rutter, Nicholas Moss full cast
Duration: 85 mins
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.
What do you think?
Post your review now