Hearts in Atlantis (2001)

Directed by Scott Hicks. Starring Anton Yelchin, Anthony Hopkins, Hope Davis, Mika Boorem, David Morse, Will Rothhaar, Deirdre O’Connell, Timmy Reifsnyder. [PG-13]

Dreary, pseudo-sentimental story of young Yelchin, living with his widowed and self-absorbed mother (Davis) in the 1960s, who makes the acquaintance of the elderly man (Hopkins) who moved in upstairs, an enigmatic figure that behaves oddly, dispenses sleepy pearls of wisdom, and seems to have psychic powers. A frustrating fusion of nostalgia-baiting coming-of-age, mystical rigmarole, enigmatic mood piece, and an undernourished mature thriller (the PG-13 rating tiptoes around suggestions of pederasty, rape and more). Based on a Stephen King novella (“Low Men in Yellow Coats”) and short story (“Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling”), while the Hearts in Atlantis title comes from an only partly-related King story; this kind of confusion doesn’t bode well for William Goldman’s screenplay, which is indeed a disastrous mess. Poor performances, too—the muddled characterizations weren’t helping anyone, but some blame belongs solely to the thespians (Boorem on the ferris wheel, anyone?). Alan Tudyk appears briefly as a Three-card Monte shuffler; dedicated to Piotr Sobociński, the director of photography who died a few months before the film’s release.

29/100