Heartless

This movie is a failed attempt at real horror and drama. It kind of leaves you feeling like you just meandered through a film with an aimless plot that only skimmed the surface of the occult and demon world. There's so many obvious questions that aren't asked or answered by the main character, Jamie, in places where common sense would suggest there should be.

The writer's left out key elements that could have made this film something more than an empty plot, to a believable story that actually had meaningful dialog - it didn't. While the acting was film-worthy and the gritty urban dark feel and tone of the film gave it presence, the script did nothing to support the look of the film nor it's characters from what laid just below the surface of the macabre.

I believe Ridley, the director, was trying to convey looking into oneself and discovering the beauty within. But what he did was turn it into a tragic affair of the heart leaving you feeling "Heartless" for the film.

There are characters thrown in that begs the question, "who are they," and why are they there. Having someone just pop in with no back story then attaching themselves to the main character in the film is like plopping a kid in your lap and having it call you "daddy." It kept you wondering, but not in a good way, that would make you get up and walk out of the theater if you weren't watching it at home.

Towards the middle of the movie, it takes on an entirely different mode, which should have been played out further with the two main characters, Tia and Jamie and their relationship - that's where the real meaningful story was.

In conclusion, the story leaves you feeling empty like you didn't have any meaningful or profound message that you could take away from it spending almost two hours of your life, which you'll never get back.

Do yourself a favor and pass on this trite scare tactics with a pointless ominous soundtrack and plot with a myriad of stories that take an abrupt turn into one another and make no sense.

This film isn't Heartless, it's pointless!

Philip Ridley is an artist, a writer and a film director whose work is considered unconventional and unique in every form he touches. Some how he manages to marry all of these forms in his most recent HEARTLESS, including writing the lyrics to the many songs by David Julyou that play such an important role in the unfolding of this visit to the Faust legend. It is harsh, dark, disturbing, and at times a bit over the top as far as his need to make visual things that go bump in the dark. But in the end, with the incomparable help of featured actor Jim Sturgess, he makes it work.

Jamie Morgan (Jim Sturgess) is a young 25-year old photographer living in a squalid area of London with his loving mother (Marion Morgan): Jamie bears a birthmark on his face and the upper torso that makes him the victim of prejudice by the boys in the neighborhood and has resulted in his living the life of a recluse. Jamie's brother and nephew (Luke Treadway and Justin Salinger) stay close to the home but are preoccupied with other matters - some good some bad. Jamie longs for his departed father (Timothy Spall) who 'made the world make sense' and he longs for a relationship with a girl so that he can have a family and be normal. Walking the streets at night Jamie hears screams and witnesses sights that terrify him: he is aware that gangs rule the world and in time he is assaulted with his mother during a night walk and his mother is killed. In an attempt to find sense out of chaos Jamie becomes friends with a new neighbor AJ (Noel Clarke) and is offered a handgun by a local merchant (Frazer Ayers) 'to protect himself. As Jamie becomes more terrified with the creatures he sees in the night and angered by the death of his mother he ultimately meets Papa B (Joseph Mawle) who just happens to have strange powers to offer Jamie anything he wishes. Jamie makes a pact with Papa B, agreeing to promote chaos in the streets in the form of writing graffiti in turn for Papa B removing the ugly birthmark from his body. Papa B's young girl assistant Charlie (Nadia Theaker) bonds with Jamie and becomes like the daughter Jamie has always wanted.

Now, without the physical disfigurement Jamie attracts a pretty delivery girl Tia (Clémence Poésy) and seems to have found his wishes come true - with Tia and Charlie as family. But Papa B has other plans and sends his Weapons Man (Eddie Marsan) who gives Jamie an altered version of his assignment from his pact with Papa B and the world becomes ruled by horror. How Jamie responds to his new bizarre assignments changes the course of the tale, a course best not shared in a review.

Jim Sturgess makes this role of a seemingly impossible spectrum of acting an example of just how skilled he has become in his craft. The cast is good but burdened with many aspects of the bizarre that keep the viewer form connecting in a positive way. The cinematography by Matt Gray is appropriately dark and the visual effects, though excessively ugly, make the atmosphere of this dark tale work. It is a strange film and requires that viewer to suspend disbelief, but the impact and underlying message is strong.

Grady Harp

I was very fortunate today to see an early screening of Heartless at the American Film Market (AFM) in Santa Monica, CA. I went into the film thinking it would be a horror film, but found it to be more of a psychological thriller with moments of horror.

I can honestly say this film absolutely blew me away! The story is brilliant and the acting superb. Jim Sturgess' obvious empathetic grasp of Jamie's insecurities as well as innocence is mesmerizing, and he gives the audience his full range of emotions throughout the film – which his fans will especially appreciate.

From the moment he first appears on screen, you just know that Jamie is a troubled soul. Jim's moving yet subtle performance as a disfigured and self conscious young man is totally convincing and elicits all the empathy this character warrants. When tragedy occurs, we see Jim's talents shine through as an emotionally distraught and unbalanced individual caught up in something he not only doesn't understand, but cannot control. Especially poignant is when a physical metamorphosis into beauty takes place. Jamie's nuanced transformation retains his persistent, underlying insecurity, never straying far from who he truly is on the inside, thus allowing us to accept, or question, what truly makes us human or a monster. The other characters in the film seem to simply support the storyline, and none of them alone has too much screen time. It's truly Jim who carries this film. However, I did find Joseph Mawle's performance as "Papa B" to be especially creepy.

With unending edge of your seat tension, my adrenaline was pumping the entire time and there were a few unexpected moments that made me jump. The story is unique and engaging, the cinematography artistically stunning, the effects dramatically appropriate for the dark subject matter, and it has a wonderful soundtrack that allows us to hear Jim's beautiful voice again throughout.

All in all, I believe that (with proper distribution) audiences will embrace this film. I can't wait to see it again!

From www.jimsturgessonline.com

Now,... I never feel motivated to write reviews; This is my first. Although in the past I've seen many great motion pictures and thought about it, I just didn't want to spend the time putting my feasibly mundane typed words into a critique.

To the people that rated this a 1 star and said don't waste your time, I'm happy I decided to anyway. To anybody reading this, don't pay attention to those people. Actually, I feel sorry for those reviewers, because they completely missed the point of this piece of art. It is not your typical horror. To call it a horror would be like calling moonlight sonata just a piano song; or the person closest to you just a human. This film is beyond deep. Philip Ridleys portrayal of facing your own demons, your fears, and exposing some rays of happiness through darkness, is one of the most strange yet gorgeous things I've seen ever in a movie.

If you watch this film and are not moved in some way, I honestly wouldn't know what to say. Because this visual masterpiece is in my eyes one of the greatest I've ever seen. I don't care what the critics say, or some random individual who has the mind to dismiss it as just a complex meaningless thriller. To me, this was a heart-moving, near perfection, possibly life-changing viewing; possibly due to the fact that I instantly related to scenes in the movie. It was like looking at my soul in the clearest of mirrors. The ending was..well there's no word for it.

I really hope more people have watched this one and understand what I feel right now. I feel..reborn.

Philip Ridley brings us a new style of horror. Mesmerizing and twisted, Heartless tries to appeal to our deepest senses - fear simply being one of them - by means of psychology. The "monster" in this so called horror drama, is not a monster at all but an inner pattern of what makes us humans; of what our feelings may turn us into.

Perhaps the movie is slightly underrated because the point of view that should have been used to look at this movie was not from the outside of the box but from the inside.

The performances were pretty good especially from Joseph Mawle(Papa B) whom i have only seen in Merlin, Eddie Marsan("Sherlock Holmes") and his charismatic flavor and of course Jim Sturgess who proves once again that he is a British star on a dark sky. However i expected somewhat more from Clemence Poesy("War and Peace", "In Bruges) other than a lovely accent.

Overall, i give "Heartless" an 8/10 for the feelings they tried to bring up but failed in a small measure. I do believe that concentrating even more on the feelings and less on the horror part would've brought this movie a greater rating. Nonetheless, it is worth two hours of your spare time.