| In junior high, I read Stephen King almost
exclusively. At the time, there was something very appealing about the way his words
pulled terror and dread off of normal day anxieties. It could have been puberty (Carrie),
sex (Gerald's Game) or even outsiders (Needful Things); it didn't matter
because he knew where the boogeymen hid in almost every situation. But King does have a
tendency to carry on for chapters upon chapters. And it could get really ugly.I recall my
personnal breaking point was the twelve pages in The Stand which were devoted to
the self-cannibalization of rabbits. Later, in my senior year of college, I began to
re-visit his books and found that I could dig deeper into the junk and find a moments that
didn't just examine good versus evil, but found the greater conflict of the lost versus
the innocence. Fortunately, in the process of adapting these books to
the screen, there have been a few artists who have understood this as well and have taken
liberty in peeling off the fat. Most prominently in this group is screenwriter William
Goldman, who penned Stand by Me, Misery, and now Hearts in Atlantis.
While Rob Reiner-who directed the first two-was certainly fantastic, Scott Hicks, whose
penchancy for visuals over dialogue did well by him in Shine and Snow Falling
on Cedars, proves to be all up for the task. Hearts in Atlantis tells the
story of Bobby O. (Anton Yelchin) who lives in a small Connecticut town circa 1960. When
he's not hanging out with his friends, he's reading the paper to the tennant living in the
attic. His name is Ted Brannigan (Anthony Hopkins) and it seems that he has other-worldly
powers. In a lesser adaption, the film would have focused on Ted's ability and his attempt
to allude the authorities. Here though, Ted becomes the mentor to young Bobby and shows
him the loops of going from childhood to manhood.
Hearts in Atlantis understands what it means to
remember all the good and all the bad about being a kid. Just look at the way Hicks frames
the moments between Bobby and his first love. They run through the forest with the aged
pine trees brushing the wisdom of the ages against their young faces. One of the best
scenes in the whole film involves the two getting stuck on a stalled ferris wheel. Most
films about adolescence seem to brush off a first kiss as something that will soon be
irrelevant to the character's lives. This film lingers over the kiss like it is the moment
that will be the standards for all other romantic moments. If it doesn't make anyone think
of their first kiss and what it meant at the time, then they're still probably practicing
with blow-up dolls. On the flip side, the film also examines how the relationship between
a child and an adult can be tainted by those who truly do not understand its innocence.
Bobby's mother (Hope Davis) allows her self-absorption to greatly disrupt Ted's life
and the story allows this to have a devastating, yet poignant impact on the story.
And none of this would work if it were not for the cast. Every
time I think Sir Tony has shown all of his acting tricks, he reaches up his sleeve and
pulls out a few more. With Ted, Hopkins shows a vulnerability and a sorrow that will
surely propel this performance into the pathos of Hannibal Lecter and Richard Nixon. He
also has a gentle raport with young Mr. Yelchin who clearly has no trouble keeping
up with the Oscar-winner, even at such a young age. This is the key to the whole film, and
the relationship echos throughout the rest of the film. It wouldn't be a great surprise if
both get nominated, and it's an even greater accomplishment in such a visually-driven
film.
So, take a first rate cast and put them in the hands of a
skilled director and the result is a Stephen King film that outshines the original
intentions of the author. Hearts in Atlantis captures the innocence of childhood
and the innocence of the early 1960's while undertanding that such emotions can still feel
supernatural. The film is a beautiful achievement and ranks in the top five of King's
works on film. All of this and it doesn't even need any pig blood. |
