Anton Yelchin and Hope Davis in "Hearts in Atlantis."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film an: Stars: Anthony Hopkins Director: Scott Hicks Rated: PG-13, with violence Length: 101 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(September 28, 2001) -- "Sometimes, when you're young, you have moments of such happiness, you think you're living in someplace magical, like Atlantis must have been. Then we grow up and our hearts break in two."

So says the aging Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) to his young friend, 11-year-old Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin), over a cold root beer, in the film, Hearts in Atlantis.

Brautigan's statement not only explains the film's title, but also sums up the moment captured in this often-poignant film: the loss of innocence.

Bobby lives with his widowed and embittered mother (Hope Davis) in a large but failing frame house on a hillside in a small Connecticut town. Having little money, Mom takes in boarders, and retiree Ted Brautigan is the latest resident.

Bobby depends on the quiet but amiable Brautigan for emotional uplift and advice. But Brautigan also has a strange gift -- he's psychic. It both causes and solves problems for the new-found friends.

The film unspools as one long flashback, as a middle-aged Bobby attends a funeral in his hometown. We see that Brautigan has become a memorable part of the summer Bobby turned 11.

The old man points the boy toward adulthood, teaching him how worthwhile it is to read and how to react to his first crush, on neighbor Carol (Mika Boorem). Brautigan also helps Bobby reconcile his feelings about his father, who died six years earlier as a hard drinker and foolish gambler.

Pleading bad eyesight, Brautigan hires the boy to read him the newspaper but also to keep an eye out for "low men in dark clothes."

Why they want the old man and whether they get him lend suspense -- and an edge -- to this sweet and otherwise-conventional coming-of-age tale.

Hearts in Atlantis has been adapted from two Stephen King stories by Oscar-winning screenwriter William Goldman. It's been directed by Australian Scott Hicks (of Shine fame), whose affection for superb images occasionally slows the narrative pace.

But here, Goldman contributes a subtle, emotionally complex script, allowing Hicks to involve viewers, even through slowly paced passages.

Hicks has also assembled a near-perfect cast.

Hopkins strikes the perfect balance. Brautigan is mysterious and emotionally scarred, and yet capable of great empathy and intuition.

Davis creates a mother who is self-centered and bitter, yet worthy of a degree of sympathy.

The children -- Yelchin and Boorem -- are the embodiment of playful innocence, compounded by emotional depth.

Hearts in Atlantis is from the nostalgic, naturalistic side of King. It's more akin to Stand By Me than to Carrie, and its elegiac tone and stately pace may tire some filmgoers.

However, the film offers genuine rewards, particularly its understanding of the crossroads that lead a child to adulthood.