Review of Hearts in Atlantis (2001) by Alison O — 25 Jul 2005

Best in Show: Anthony Hopkins.

One for the future: Anton Yelchin.

Stand-out scene: Defeating the bully.

Brainer or no-brainer: Brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated.

DVD commentary any good?: n/a.

TV.

Since the success of Stand by Me (which, together with The Shawshank Redemption are the best examples of big screen adaptations of Stephen King's work) subsequent productions of his work have tried - whenever possible - to ride on the coattails of the Rob Reiner classic and shoehorn a 50s soundtrack into the melee. This is no exception, and while the general rule of thumb that the original story is always better than the film is borne out again here, this is an enjoyable telling of the tale. I read this book whilst on holiday in America at the turn of the century (boy does that phrase sound weird) and after the first few scenes it all came flooding back. Anthony Hopkins is Ted Braughtigan, an old timer who's the new tenant of the upper floor of the home of single mom Liz Garfield (Hope Davis) and her son Bobby (Anton Yelchin off of Taken). He forges a friendship with the young lad, in whom he instills a love of reading, and the two become firm friends, despite his mother's misgivings. But Ted is no kiddy fiddler; he's a gifted man who spends his life on the move to avoid 'low men in yellow coats' who conspire to put his psychic powers to ill use. Having read the imDB entry on this film, I happily note that Ted makes in re-appearance in the last of King's Dark Tower series (which i'm reading in paperback so have to wait for its release later this year). As a big King fan I found this an interesting companion piece to the short story upon which it is based (which wasn't actually called Hearts in Atlantis), but i'm glad that I read the book first. Yelchin makes an engaging, non-brattish leading kid and Hopkins' performance is up to his usual excellent standard. It's certainly better than 90% of King adaptations and I urge anyone who enjoyed this movie to seek out the book to get the meatier details of the story. A fine effort.