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HEARTS IN ATLANTIS • **<br />
Starring Anthony Hopkins, Anton<br />
Yelchin, Hope Davis, Mika Boorem and<br />
David Morse. Directed by Seott flieks.<br />
Written by William Goldman. Produced by<br />
Kerry Hey sen. A Warner Bros, release.<br />
Drama. Rated PG-13 for violence and thematic<br />
seenes. Running time: 100 min.<br />
Steeped in nostalgia. "Hearts in<br />
Atlantis," based on a Stephen King eollection<br />
of short stories, draws on the same<br />
thematic elements as the author's last<br />
bigscreen<br />
adaptation. "The Green Mile."<br />
Here, again, a stranger with a curious gift<br />
changes forever the lives of those around<br />
him. Unlike that modern classic, however,<br />
"Hearts in Atlantis" sometimes relies too<br />
that these enigmatic figures aren't real, but<br />
he plays along with the game anyway.<br />
Gradually and rather reluctantly, Ted<br />
becomes the father figure Bobby never<br />
had. while his mother grows skeptical of a<br />
man who would voluntarily spend so much<br />
time with a little kid.<br />
Ultimately it becomes clear that Ted<br />
has a certain insight bringing up Bobby's<br />
beloved bike before the boy mentions it.<br />
driving away the neighborhood bully by<br />
—<br />
alluding to his "dark secret." betting on the<br />
underdog in a boxing match and winning<br />
big. And thai he can pass it on to others:<br />
After embracing Ted. Bobby takes a card<br />
shark at the local fair to town, even though<br />
his mother has warned him repeatedly<br />
against playing cards for money.<br />
But Ted's insights soon weai thin with<br />
the help of an overbearing camera and<br />
core And eventually Ted is taken away,<br />
and. in predictable coming-of-agc fashion,<br />
the grown-up Bobby claims the summer he<br />
spent with Ted has changed Inni forevei<br />
But the viewer has to ask: How'' Bobby is<br />
now a photographer, shooting pictures<br />
through prisms to create unique images<br />
The argument could be made thai now he<br />
sees the world differently more clearly, ii<br />
REVIEWS<br />
—<br />
distortedly. But his window ot prescience<br />
was open only momentarily— Bobby<br />
shared Ted's power just that one time and<br />
it is unclear what lasting effect the strange<br />
old man actually had. Annlee Elhngson<br />
DON'T SAY A WORD **l/2<br />
Starring Michael Douglas, Sean Bean,<br />
Brittany Murphy, Jennifer Esposito, Famke<br />
Janssen and Oliver Piatt. Directed by Gary<br />
Fleder, Written by Anthony I'eckham and<br />
Patrick Smith Kelly. Produced by Arnold<br />
Kopelson, Anne Kopelson and Anion<br />
Milchan. A 20th Century Fox release.<br />
Thriller. Rated R for violence, including<br />
some gruesome images, and language.<br />
Running time: 1 14 min.<br />
heavily on cinematic cliches to convey the As kidnapping-themed thrillers go.<br />
purity of youth and the tragedy of lost "Don't Say a Word" largely stays the<br />
innocence.<br />
course, adding a few innovative wrinkles to<br />
Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) is what is still a predominantly formulaic<br />
let<br />
down once again on his 11th birthday story about a Hitchcockian Everyman<br />
when his mother (Hope Davis) gives him a pulled into circumstances beyond his con-<br />
his wife Aggie (Famke Janssen) awaken to<br />
find that their daughter has been kidnapped<br />
by a vicious bank robber named<br />
Koster (Sean Bean) as ransom to persuade<br />
the good doctor to extract a certain "sixdigit<br />
number" from Elisabeth's head. This<br />
number, presumably, is key to locating the<br />
loot which Elisabeth's father stole from<br />
Koster some 10 years earlier.<br />
All of this makes for an engaging<br />
premise, even if some of the details seem<br />
unnaturally forced. The unrealistic oneday<br />
deadline thai Koster imposes on<br />
Nathan is especially troublesome, a gimmick<br />
seemingly intended to add an extra<br />
layer of tension which, ironically, nevei<br />
really materializes given how easily<br />
Nathan is able to win<br />
I lisabeth's confi<br />
dence \nd a parallel storj involving an<br />
NYPD detective, played by Jennifei<br />
Esposito, struggles to pace with the resl of<br />
the film despite Esposito's verj appealing<br />
nun ( ulicr contrivances, though, are con<br />
structive. such as the "Real Window" tac<br />
tic of confining Aggie to hei bed with leg<br />
in traction from a skung injury<br />
Derivative,<br />
to be sure, hut a wonderful catalyst foi<br />
some ol the film's mosl suspenseful<br />
moments.<br />
Despite the picture's shortcomings,<br />
director Gary Fleder ("Kiss the Girls")<br />
looks to get substantial mileage out of the<br />
effort, lake his past work. "Don't Say a<br />
Word" is crisply-edited, well-acted and<br />
impressively stylish in lils and starts<br />
enough to enhance the commercial<br />
clearly<br />
prospects of a movie that might otherwise<br />
have fallen through<br />
cracks — Wade Major<br />
the autumnal<br />
LACIENAGA<br />
• ••<br />
Starring Mercedes Moran, Graciela<br />
Borges, Martin Adjemian and Diego<br />
Baenas. Directed and written by Lucrccia<br />
Mart el. Produced by l.ita Stantic and Jose<br />
Maria Morales. A Cowboy release. Drama.<br />
Spanish-language; subtitled. I nrated.<br />
Running time: 98 min.<br />
Winner of the Sundance/NHK<br />
Filmmakers Award. Lucrccia Martel's<br />
screenplay for "La Cienaga" is set over a<br />
sweltering summer in northern Argentina.<br />
La Cienaga (The Swamp) is the name of<br />
library card instead of the bicycle he really trol and forced to rise to the occasion.<br />
wants. She reminds him that his father left Though the stated source material for the sun-beaten town where Tali (Mercedes<br />
them with next to nothing to survive on "Don't' Say a Word" is the novel of the Moran) lives in cramped quarters with little<br />
yet. as his best friend points out, she same name by Andrew Klavan. the most<br />
money and little room available for<br />
always manages to afford brand-newdresses<br />
obvious model is Hitchcock's own "The modesty among her young children.<br />
for work.<br />
Man Who Knew Too Much." a story that Despite the oppressive climate and filthy<br />
A gift of an entirely unexpected kind the master of suspense himself deemed so environs. Tali's children share a vibrant<br />
shows up on his doorstep instead: the mysterious<br />
good he made it twice. Of course. "Don't resilience. As they sweat it out in the urban<br />
Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins), Say a Word" is nowhere near that level of jungle. Tali's disillusioned cousin Mecha<br />
who appears out of nowhere to rent the intelligence or suspense, although it<br />
(Graciela Borges) and her own family<br />
is sufficiently<br />
empty room upstairs. Ted quickly<br />
well-crafted to make the lulls less retreat to La Mandragore. a once-famed<br />
befriends Bobby and offers to pay him a obvious.<br />
and now faded country estate, where<br />
dollar a week to read the paper out loud, Michael Douglas stars as noted psychiatrist<br />
Mecha soaks up the sun and knocks back<br />
thus sparing his failing eyesight. Of course,<br />
Dr. Nathan Conrad, a happy, secure red wine. These two locations may only be<br />
at that price, there's more to it than that: family man whose tranquil life takes a horrific<br />
a matter of kilometers apart but thev seem<br />
turn after he agrees to help treat a like separate worlds indicative of the dif-<br />
Ted also wants Bobby to keep an eye out<br />
for "low men"—men who wear dark clothing<br />
seemingly catatonic girl named Elisabeth ferent classes to which the cousins belong.<br />
Burrows (Brittany Murphy). It's The worlds finally collide when an accident<br />
and drive flashy cars and cast long<br />
shadows. Bobby is bright and understands Thanksgiving morning when Nathan and<br />
reunites Tali and Mecha<br />
The characters in "La Cienaga''<br />
rather like those in Andrew Kdtting's " I his<br />
Filthy Earth" are at the mercy of the elements,<br />
opposed by forces o\' nature more<br />
hostile than hospitable. While Kdtting's<br />
film powerfully emits the palpable sense of<br />
an earthy, dirty climate. Martel's swiftly<br />
creates and maintains a stifhngly hot and<br />
humid atmosphere that will leave you<br />
reaching lor your soda. Successfully recreating<br />
the worlds of both adults and children<br />
particularly the games each play<br />
with each other and the rumors ihat dominate<br />
then lives "I a Cienaga" has a line<br />
ensemble cast, the charismatic Juan Cruz<br />
Borden is especially strong Martel draws<br />
impeccable, physical performances from<br />
hei actors, wiiii the kind ol confidence<br />
rarely displayed by First-time directors, and<br />
her documentary background shines<br />
through in hei depiction "i the two primary<br />
environments, both >>t winch are well<br />
siiot by dp Hugo ( olaee "I a ( icnaga" is<br />
flawed "iiK In us freewheeling structure,<br />
which refuses the audience sufficient time<br />
know each o\ the characters, thus<br />
hi impress], misik view i.uhei than<br />
a specific one Still, this<br />
Wiegand<br />
debut— ( hri\<br />
is an intriguing<br />
iber. 2001<br />
(R-I.V7)
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