Hicks doesn't always keep the story clear and compelling, but Hopkins is in top form.
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Too poky and contrived to be a good movie, but its lushly serene atmospherics, given current events, make it a pure slice of sentimental comfort food.
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
VarietyTodd McCarthy
The few who saw the embalmed adaptation of "Snow Falling on Cedars" will recognize the same stifling approach brought to this more accessible material by director Scott Hicks.
The resulting film directed by Scott Hicks is afflicted by terminal nostalgic drift. You come out of the theater with nothing more specific than half-pleasant memories of baseball gloves, Ferris wheels and vintage automobiles. I've had naps that were more exciting.
50
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Unabashedly sentimental, it's meant to touch our hearts in profound and important ways, but misses the mark by drawing too deeply from a pool of schmaltz.
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
What's missing, really, is a point. Like "Snow Falling on Cedars," Hicks composes every shot in Hearts in Atlantis as if it were his last.
38
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
It's not hell, but limbo, junior high-school style.