Customer Reviews

Lonely Hearts

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Lonely Hearts is lifted above the average crime thriller through the excellent performances by the cast. The movie alternates between the detectives who are on the trail of the Lonely Hearts killers, played credibly by John Travolta & James Gandolfini, and the bloody spree of the killers' Martha Beck [Salma Hayek], and Fernandez [Jared Leto].

The detectives are well-played with a sub-plot involving John Travolta's character grappling with the case as well as his own personal problems [having to do with his strained relationship with his son, as well as his affair with a colleague played by Laura Dern]. However, the real action and drama comes from the performances by Salma Hayek, and Jared Leto as the cold-blooded killers. Hayek's performance is especially riveting, and her Martha Beck comes across as unflinchingly evil whilst besotted with her lover.The portrayal of the killers in this movie though well-acted, is not an altogether accurate portrayal of the real-life criminals [the real Beck was obese, not a sultry temptress as embodied by Hayek].

On the whole however, this is an eminently watchable crime thriller with credible performances all-around. A worthwhile addition to the genre.

This film disappeared from the theatres so quickly most people never heard of it. It deserves your attention. If only to watch Selma give you a glimpse of madness. Kinky done well.

Director Robinson remade the movie "Lonely Hearts" because Detective Elmer Robinson was his grandfather. He wanted to explore the many faceted sacrifices that the police endure witnessing a lifetime of criminal behavior and more importantly, the strain put on their families. Detective Robinson solved the Lonely Hearts murder(s) case, but with a huge price. It's a fine movie and deserved full distribution. Salma Hayak deserves an Oscar nomination.

LONELY HEARTS tries very hard to evoke the feeling of the 1940s and the troubled police officer whose wife's suicide haunts him until he finds revenge in the investigation of a pair of lonely hearts scam artists. But what happens for the most part is a story that looks, sounds and fells like a 1940s crime movie - 3 parts celluloid transfer, 1 part story.

John Travolta and James Gandolfini play buddy homicide detectives who overcome the ennui of their job when they begin to investigate the multiple murders of 'lonely women' who fall prey to snappy con artist men.
The pair they are chasing are Ray Fernandez (Jared Leto) and his partner in crime Martha Beck (Salma Hayek), a diabolical couple who find their victims through the personal ads and then fleece then murder them victims in heinous ways. Todd Robinson wrote and directed the film based on his grandfather's experience - Elmer C. Robinson (Travolta) - and it is this bit of personal touch that makes the sluggish story work. The capable supporting cast includes such solid actors as Laura Dern and Scott Cain with fine cameos by Alice Krige and Dagmara Dominczyk, playing victims.

Hayek and Leto muster a chemistry on the screen that, while strange in type, allows the viewer to understand the motivation of the crimes. It is a solid cast and a good story: it just seems more derivative of old movies than a film with original thought. Grady Harp, August 07

The tone of the story and the cold bloodedness is unfolded with a lady who commits suicide. She happens to be the wife of a police detective (Elmer 'Buster' Robinson played by John Travolta).
The story then turns to 3 years later and a narrative flashback to the current events, by Charles Hildebrandt played by James Gandolfini. It traces the origins of the Lonely Hearts killers, Raymond Fernandez (Jared Leto) and Martha Beck (Salma Hayek) and how they met and went on their murderous spree.

Its an average thriller, but falls way short of character development or to be more precise, integrity. The real Martha Beck (according to historical archives) was overweight, not pretty and quite a foul mouthed vile personality (to say the least), now you have a spanish accented bombshell played by Salma Hayek who plays that role, it somehow does not fit. That fact aside she did give an encouraging performance.
I would say the real winner in this film was Jared Leto who played Raymond's weasel like psychotic character perfectly, i thought it was a fantastic performance by him.
Overall, the film is defintiely quite disturbing, especially with the last scene and viewer discretion is STRONGLY recommended. You may feel quite uneasy watching some of the scenes. But remember although it depicts a true life incident, its still just a movie.
I wished for more of a cohesive screenplay to this movie and better casting.
3 stars

The quote above is from James Gandolfini's character, who, (like John Travolta), plays a detective on the tail of two serial killers.

The movie is reminiscent of film-noir. Getting off to a slow start, with a seemingly bland story about a con-man, it builds into a character study of two serial killers.
Unfortunately, not enough time is spent on characterization of these two, as we flip back and forth between them and Travolta's story. Nonetheless, we get enough of a glimpse into the mind of the killers to make this a tense drama.

Salma Hayek was the real star of this one. And though the film has some graphic violence, and suggested violence as well, her performance alone is worth the time you'll spend watching.

No need to go over the story. I rented this movie and was surprised at how well it depicted men who work in law enforcement and the women who are married to them. I haven't seen Scott Caan mentioned in the other reviews, but I thought he was excellent, he could end up being a better actor than his Dad. Travolta was much better than I expected because he didn't rely on the tics and mannerisims that he uses on almost all of his other movies, the pauses between words, the statacco delivery, the playing with the cigarettes etc. Gandolfini was pretty good and I was able to separate him from Soprano even though he used the same voice. Leto and Hayak were great, hard to imagine during the movie that Leto had played Steve Prefontaine to perfection. Hayak did a great job of showing the evil in her character just by sitting next to the woman in the yard in Michigan, listening, giving the small fake smile and yet conveying that she has already decided what she is going to do to the woman. Very glad I rented this.

This is a heck of a good movie. It has a great cast and has lots of really good talented actors. It is also a really compelling and intriguing story based on real events. When I was watching it I thought, "how the heck did I miss this in the theater... and how did everybody else?" This is a good movie. I am suprised that it wasn't marketed better and I am suprised that it did so poorly in the theater. I hope that people get a chance to see it on DVD cause it is a good flick.

The focus of this movie is on the detectives, rather than the Lonely Hearts killers, and therefore Gandolfini and Travolta got what little of the critical notice there was. And they are indeed wonderful, and deserving of praise. But Salma Hayek and Jared Leto also turn in fabulous performances as the dysfunctional couple who prey off of, and ultimately kill, the women who fall for their scam.

This movie isn't necessarily easy to watch, but it's mesmerizing. Well worth your time.

Crime drama thriller. A true story of two psychopaths who murder people for money without any conscience. However the film explains that money is only reason why they do it. The revealation is hard to digest but superb action of Salma Hayek and obsessed cop Travolta make the movie plausible although it is true story. Salma Hayek with her sultry and curvaceous body also proves that she can act unusual roles showing jealousy. Leto's performance as killer is not up to the mark. He looks like a innocent fool rather than a ferocious killer. Travolta is electrifying as ever.
The plot is simple..a cat and mouse chase for the killers by dedicated cops. The chemistry between Travolta and Scott doesn't click although they worked in 'Get shorty' earlier. Scott performs his job as if he is doing a favor to get his paycheck. We wonder how Travolta puts up with him.
The film stands out in meticulously done art direction and good cinematography to depict that 1940's era. The cars, even the plans, streets and country are atmospheric of 1950' (actually filmed in florida)The killing are gory and definitely not a family movie. But if you want to sit back and travel to 1940's disturbed killers, a workholic cop who has to find self-esteem in his job to fill the void of personal life, this might be the one ! We would hope the ending reveals more than it is but it is not !