Review of Lonely Hearts (2006) by Laurence C — 23 Mar 2009

Lonely Hearts is a decent enough blend of film noir, thriller and household drama whose very first scene does indeed set the mood for nearly two hours of unsettling, tone-deaf sociopathology. Its detachment as Robinson films an unspeakably gritty series of crimes is all the more disturbing, but the film never quite ignites like one would expect. Maybe it's the way the screenplay can't quite make the two halves of his narrative-- cop and killers-- intertwine in a satisfying way; maybe it's the way the director never takes full advantage of his hugely gifted cast (except in a few scenes where Hayek and Leto are truly affecting); maybe it's just the fact that all told, this treatment of an extremely dark true story feels kind of lightweight once it's over.

But there is indeed a strong twisted poignancy to more than just a few scenes, and even if a lot could be editd out or simply feels too flat, I guess I prefer Robinson's stoic neo-noir cocktail over any manipulative, hyper-stylized take on a real story like this one.