Hearts in Atlantis

Every now and then, Hollywood does something so utterly puzzling you just have to ask yourself what the hell were they thinking. Taking a Stephen King novel and filming only the first half of it is a very good example. Even though there are many good things to be said about "Hearts in Atlantis", it is impossible to overlook the fact that the story just hangs in mid-air. Even the title doesn't make any sense - neither "Hearts" nor "Atlantis" appear in the first half of the book! Puzzling indeed.

Somewhat touching and Hopkins is as good as ever.

Charming, and manages to stay fairly faithful to the novel, which is a feat when they only cover a third of the story. Hopkins is great, and the child actors are actually pretty decent, a novelty in itself. Good for a lazy Sunday afternoon.

More bullies. A fascinatingly inert movie; i think i'm pretty careful to say "nothing happens" in a piece of fiction because there's always something at play but Hearts in Atlantis seems completely uninterested in its own story.

I want to like it because Anton Yelchin makes my heart smile (I love that kid's voice and his acting is quite good), and because of Sir Anthony Hopkins, obviously. But I would've liked it more had it included more elements from the story.

I really like Anthony Hopkins but unfortunately this movie was boring

Good TV movie.

I really wanted to like this movie,( I'm a BIG Anthony Hopkins fan), but this one just didn't work for me... Too rambling...

Very different than the book. Basically because the book was good. I don't know how they turned that into this...or why for that matter...

Numbingly tedious drama is an odd tonal mishmash; most closely resembles STAND BY ME, but Hicks’ uncertain direction never makes it quite clear how seriously we are meant to take the darker elements (some moments with Boorem and Davis in particular are difficult to watch) – perhaps just another example of the whimsy of King’s prose not necessarily being translatable to the screen. Hopkins is at least fun to watch (as always) and invests his character with the right degree of ambiguity.

It's like the bully B-plot from It as a whole film, and instead of the prepubescent orgy you have Anthony Hopkins whispering into a teenage boy's ear that he's seen him try on his mother's underwear through transdimensional magic.

It's not surprising considering the source material is King's ultra layered and all encompassing Dark Tower, that it had that TV movie feel to it, as if you were missing large chunks of backstory.That being said the actors all seem genuine and I found it enjoyable enough in a standalone story.

This is a somewhat sentimental and nostalgic themed film/watch, perhaps somewhat like Stand By Me, which was, of course, also based on a story by Stephen King. Its not creepy, more a slow drama with some thoughtful elements. I could understand the young boys frustration with his mum for what happens but I could also understand the mothers concern over her sons sudden friendship with this elderly man they know literally next to nothing about. A nice enough type watch, its ok, yeah.

A sleeper. Strangely interesting film.

This movie is only a part of the book from stephen king book... not the best part also

So Davis thought that Hopkins was some sort of pedophile or something, and if you observe his character for a while, you might agree. As for the story, I was disappointed. Some mysterious old man with vague superpowers makes friends with a kid and is tracked by nondescript men who seem to have no motivation or personality.

I want to give a Stephen King story higher marks, but this is just one story that didn't need the silver screen treatment. So much is lost in translation that anyone who goes to the book after seeing this will feel like they were kicked in the face.

Boring. Anthony Hopkins didn't even do a good job and he always does a good job.

Very disappointing. Only about 1/6 of the actual book is told here.

Decent adaptation

Stephen King is running out of ideas, and Hicks drops the ball on the direction. There are still things to enjoy here, but life is too short to see movies that are merely passable

Read the book.

Ho. Rib. Bleh.

Nobody writes kids better than Stephen King; but what was missing was the original intent of Hopkins mentoring this boy in the first place; as he grows up without having honed/retained his mental powers and hadn't really accomplished a thing.

Watchable movie that retains the sentimentality of the original story with none of the brooding, subtextual horror. Hopkins is perfectly cast as Brautigan, and the movie works well enough in its own right, but when stripped of its Dark Tower connections, the movie needs more than the threat of communism to propel the story properly.

A wound-be-great film if only the book ends had been removed, and they had allowed the story to be what it was.

Was this a made for TV movie? It sure felt like one. An attempt to add paranormal to Stand By Me, but ultimately fails. There's a lot of stuff in this movie that is never fleshed out so the viewer is left with a lot of questions or unsatisfactory conclusions.

Quite a nice little film. Nothing amazing, but a pleasant watch.

I never read the book, but I remember liking this movie overall. It's not a cinematic masterpiece, but I found it enjoyable.

"Noble yet vague, Hearts in Atlantis is slight yet beautiful to look at." - Ed Gonzalez

A fairly good film

Not bad.

yawn

King in a sentimental mood: the same coming-of-age cornfield as _Stand by Me_, with the same complement of goldie-oldies, but with a moderate supernatural element as well (a psychic upstairs boarder, hiding out from a shadowy army of "low men"). It's all pretty thin, though the dawning consciousness of the pain and evil in the world delivers a lash or two. Fastidious direction by Hicks, and arty photography by the late Piotr Sobocinski. (Late since the finish: no supernatural element there.)

Good, but nothing like the book it's based on.

Better than what I expected but it tries to be what Stand By Me was.

Lacked of focus and had an overreliance on montages to 60's tunes. (and was it just me, or did it vaguely demonize single mothers?)

Just didn't have enough to it.

Memories of the time when one was happy.

Not all that memorable, but good while it lasts.

Hearts in Atlantis undoubtedly lacks focus and the necessary depth to be a real tear jerker but it totally clicked with me.