I haven't as yet read Stephen King's novel "Hearts in Atlantis" (which, as I understand it, was a compilation of a few stories). But I remember reading King's intro at the beginning, in which he talked about having come of age in the '60s, and how this has influenced his work.
Well, I would say that the movie "Hearts in Atlantis" - based on one of the short stories from the book - gives the that impression. Like "Stand by Me" and "It", the movie portrays working-class children around 1960 whose only escape from the world's unpleasantness is each other. In this case, young Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) lives with his widowed mother (Hope Davis). Unfortunately, she considers him a nuisance at best: she practically ignores him and spends all her money on fancy clothes for herself. But one day, stranger Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) rents the room upstairs. Bobby suspects that there's something unusual, almost magical, about Ted. But who else might know about this? As is the case with King's other looks back at childhood, this one gets told as a flashback, with Bobby's older self (David Morse) thinking about the repercussions of everything that happened. Maybe it's just me, but I think that there was something to that, given that the movie got released a few weeks after September 11. One of the things that we as a country could have considered was how past deeds could have led to 9/11, and how we could have changed certain policies.
But maybe that's just me. Overall, I thought that this was a very well done movie. I really got a sense of how Bobby must have been feeling about everything going on in his life, and of his newfound strength. I recommend it.
Well, I would say that the movie "Hearts in Atlantis" - based on one of the short stories from the book - gives the that impression. Like "Stand by Me" and "It", the movie portrays working-class children around 1960 whose only escape from the world's unpleasantness is each other. In this case, young Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) lives with his widowed mother (Hope Davis). Unfortunately, she considers him a nuisance at best: she practically ignores him and spends all her money on fancy clothes for herself. But one day, stranger Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) rents the room upstairs. Bobby suspects that there's something unusual, almost magical, about Ted. But who else might know about this? As is the case with King's other looks back at childhood, this one gets told as a flashback, with Bobby's older self (David Morse) thinking about the repercussions of everything that happened. Maybe it's just me, but I think that there was something to that, given that the movie got released a few weeks after September 11. One of the things that we as a country could have considered was how past deeds could have led to 9/11, and how we could have changed certain policies.
But maybe that's just me. Overall, I thought that this was a very well done movie. I really got a sense of how Bobby must have been feeling about everything going on in his life, and of his newfound strength. I recommend it.