The players outdid their director in mining the emotional significance of this story. In the first place, i checked this one out because of Paul Bettany--encouraged in the venture by a comment that Helena Bonham-Carter goes into new dimensions with her character, Dinah Burkett. Which she does. A love story with ugly triangle is not easy territory in which to find people particularly appealing. All three of the forces in this triangle are profoundly and consistently themselves, however. And that alone is appealing. Bettany, Bonham-Carter and Williams all cover a heart-wrenching range of human feeling--not just the big stuff (anguish, desire), but the subtleties as well (self-doubt, tenderness, quiet resentment). Too bad the music behind them is exemplary of the concept "sugar-coated". Or, more generously, sort of like wilted lettuce. The look of the film honorably frames each moment of this powerfully acted story. The art direction is as crystalline as the score is murky. Since one cannot "tune out" the way a film looks, the audience wins big-time in this regard. Eleanor Bron, by the way, who plays the rather monstrous mother (a woman of her place, class and time), has shown up recently also in "Wimbledon". I love to see her. She was totally great in "Women in Love" when she was young. I hope there is more of her over-the-top comedy out there for me to find. Happy trails . . . .
Review of The Heart of Me
