Review of Lonely Hearts (1991) by Auli H — 14 Oct 2011

Man, now that is a stellar visual effect, receding Jared Leto's hairline. What did you think they did it with practical make-up? Please, if they tried that, his hair would just pop back out, because there's no getting rid of it by physical means. Seriously, if they dig him up many decades after his death, if for no other reason, they're going to display his skeleton in a museum because it still has hair, as well as his eye color, because nothing can kill those either. No, his eyeballs will be gone; I'm saying that his freakishly shiny corneas are just gonna be floating there and if that doesn't scream museum exhibit, then I don't know what does, but really, considering the state of severe stupidity society will no doubt be in once the immortal Nicki Minaj - who is immortal because I doubt you can kill a demon - is "Koeen uv da Planut", (No, they're gonna be so stupid that that's how their gonna spell it) they're gonna display ol' Jared Skeleto for his work in 30 Seconds to Mars, for they'll forget all about his acting career, because the immortal Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer (Again, because they're demons) won't leave the slightest trace of "popular" art films, let alone ones that people hadn't even heard of when they came out. That's a shame even now, because the people need to help get Leto's acting back at the forefront, because darn it, he's one of today's greats. This guy is just too blasted good to be putting acting in the back of his to-do list and here, he further proves that by carrying not just one, but like, five films at the same time, or at least that's how it felt, considering that these genre changes are about as forced as this segway.

I love this concept of presenting the story of the "Lonely Hearts Killers" in the slick, but tensely gritty fashion it was meant to be told in, while at the same time, paying homage to the classic era of the detective-crime noir genre. Mr. Todd Robinson has written a fine script, but his execution of it is hit-or-miss, but when it misses, it misses something big. He gets tones down and executes the layers of our characters sharply, but when it comes to shifting the tone and layers, - as his script so often does - Robinson can't catch up as a director. To make matters worse, Robinson can't handle the shifts in focus in the storylines, especially when it comes to the Elmer C. Robinson storyline, where it doesn't seem like our director put in enough interest to make it as interesting as the story of the killers, leaving you begging for that story back when we switch to the Elmer Robinson storyline. Still, when it does finally switch, the transition is bumpy, partially because what storyline we do focus upon, we spend way too much time on, making the film feel severely unbalanced. Whether the director's the grandson to the hero or not, a multi-character study is hard to work with smoothly, especially for a first-timer, and Todd Robinson can't make it all snap together, thus leaving the film to squander its potential and sadly become rather unsatisfying. Still, although his storytelling is a bit off Tim Robinson delivers more as a first-timer than you migh think.

He has a tough time shifting tone, but I feel that Todd Robinson delivers on what tone is at hand, whether when he's having to make something entertaining, or dramatic, or just plain tense, and when this film gets dark, it's both horrifying and golden, for Robinson has such an understanding of how to portray these twisted events in a disturbing, yet realistic fashion, and although his storytelling isn't perfect, the way he sets things up and keeps this film on a steady, but sure rise in compellingness, in spite of its uneveness, is extremely impressive. For that, I also have to give credit to the handsomely gritty cinematography, as well as the lively production designs and excellent soundtrack, but really, what carries this film and delivers more than anything else, might just be the performers. Now, as much as we'll give Travolta trash for his more recent work and - lord help us all - performance in "Battlefield Earth", he's still a generally pretty good performer, and here, he shows that by boasting the charisma, emotion and presence to carry what compellingness there is in the rather underwhelming Elmer C. Robinson storyline. Still, there's a reason why Robinson's storyline isn't as interesting as the killers' and that reason is because... well, it's a story about the adventure of charming murderers on the lamb. Still, what carries that storyline is, of course, the sharp chemistry between Salma Hayek and Jared Leto, as well as their fantastic performances. Hayek emits the sharply mysterious atmosphere that make the Martha Beck character and chillingly complex one. Of course, the performance right on par with her's is of course by my man, Jared Leto, who plays up every layer and emotion behind Raymond Fernandez in a humanly charming, when not compelling fashion and if you see this film for nothing else, then let it be for Hayek and Leto's stellar performances.

In the end, Todd Robinson's study on the unraveling sanity of the "Lonely Hearts Killers", as well as the struggles of his grandfather as he hunts the killers down squanders its potential, due to the bumpy executions of the shifts in layers and tone that could have made this the darkly complex classic noir throwback it promised to be, but thanks to the very handsomely gritty style, sharp execution of the tones, - bumpy though, their shifts may be - steady rise in compellingness, as well as the all around solid performances, - headed by the stellar Jared Leto and Salma Hayek - "Lonely Hearts" stands as a generally enjoyable noir experience.

3/5 - Good.