My Movie Review: The Good Heart

My Movie Review: The Good Heart

3/5

OPENING STATEMENT: The Good Heart tells the story of how a suicidal homeless man became friends with a cranky dying bartender. Soon the bartender takes him in and puts him to work. Both the characters come into realizations about each other and about themselves in this dark story.

WHAT's GOOD: The premise of the film at the beginning drew my eye to the screen, 2 excellent actors in roles that challenge them. The darkness of suicide, death, and all the symbolism around it. Also I loved how this film was shot, there is sort of a smoky, gray tone to the film that enhances the mood. A lot of the symoblism comes together in the end too. The drama in this movie feels real, and it may stay on your mind for awhile.

WHAT'S BAD: Low replay value, not seeing it again. I also HATED the fact they tried to add humor into it. Maybe it would work if it actually lightened the mood, and did its job, but it just felt out of place and unnecessary. At some points the film took directions that were predictable, they didn't bother to hide anything that well. I knew how it was going to end halfway through. Overall it seemed too poorly executed and convoluted, which probably earned its low score critically, which leads me to think...Who is this film for? I can't see a mainstream film audience liking it, and it doesn't sit well next to other excellent indie films. So indie lovers might not like it.

CONSENSUS: All in all, The Good Heart gives you a dose of reality, the darkness that people have inside, the characters attitudes bounce off each other and work well, however it gets its point across too subtle for it to impact anyone appropriately. Maybe see this movie, if you have time to squander away.