Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

Hearts of the West (1975)

Director: Howard Zieff

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Few films in recent years have dealt with the Hollywood dream factory so wittily, sympathetically and incisively. In the early '30s, a hick from the sticks (Bridges) signs up with a bogus university to improve his talent at writing Zane Grey-style Western novels; stranded in LA, he takes a job as saddletramp extra for a film being made by the irascible Arkin. Rob Thompson's script gently nudges at the plagiarism, narcissism, corruption and rampant materialism infecting Tinseltown during its heyday, and allows sufficient space for the characters to grow, convince and command sympathy. A delicate balancing act is achieved as reality and fantasy are juxtaposed, and the performances are top-notch throughout (Bridges is particularly fine as the likeable innocent eager to make good). The jokes may not make you guffaw, but are carried out with a subtle, understated sense of timing and characterisation that will surely leave you with a quietly satisfied smile stretching from ear to ear.

Author: GA 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: Howard Zieff

Producer: Tony Bill

Cast: Jeff Bridges, Blythe Danner, Andy Griffith, Donald Pleasence, Alan Arkin, Richard B Shull, Herbert Edelman full cast

Duration: 103 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.