Lonely Hearts (2006)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Todd Robinson

Writer (WGA):

Todd Robinson (written by)

Release Date:

21 lokakuu 2006 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Love can be murder.

Plot:

Based on the true story, two homicide detectives track Martha Beck and Raymond Martinez Fernandez, a murderous pair known as the "Lonely Hearts Killers" who lured their victims through the personals.

Plot Keywords:

Death | Detective | Murder | Deception | Violence

Awards:

1 nomination

US TV Schedule:

Tue. July 14

8:00 PM

TMC

Cast

John Travolta	...	Det. Elmer Robinson
James Gandolfini	...	Det. Charles Hilderbrandt
Jared Leto	...	Ray Fernandez
Salma Hayek	...	Martha Beck
Scott Caan	...	Det. Reilly
Laura Dern	...	Rene Fodie
Michael Gaston	...	D.A. Hunt
Bruce MacVittie	...	Det. Eastman
Dan Byrd	...	Eddie Robinson
Andrew Wheeler	...	Det. Tooley
Alice Krige	...	Janet Long
Dagmara Dominczyk	...	Delphine Downing
John Doman	...	Chief MacSwain
Bailee Madison	...	Rainelle Downing
Ellen Travolta	...	Ida

Also Known As:

Lonely Hearts Killers (Germany)
Lonely Hearts Killers (Finland) [fi]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and sexual content, nudity and language.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R | Finland:K-15 | Netherlands:16 | Germany:16 | Italy:VM14 | Australia:MA | France:-12 | Argentina:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Japan:R-15 | Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA

Company:

Millennium Films

Trivia:

The real Martha Beck was of a very different stature to that of actress Salma Hayek and at the time of her death weighed well over 200lbs. On her execution day it was discovered that she would not fit into the electric chair so was seated on the arm rests when the fatal shock was administered.

Goofs:

Factual errors: After the police find the blood under the floor boards in Fernandez's house, we hear Hildebrandt's voice-over that the cops just missed the couple as they were 5 miles away in Seaford, NY buying a flop top car. Fernandez's home was in Valley Stream which is close to 20 miles away from Seaford, not 5 miles.

Quotes:

Martha Beck: You know what they say about cops and donuts?
Charles Hilderbrandt: No, what?
Martha Beck: Neither one's any good without a hole in them.
Charles Hilderbrandt: They say that about women, too.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Making of 'Lonely Hearts' (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Wiggles

Good enough, but could have been better...

This retelling of the Lonely Hearts killers, originally told in 1970 in The Honeymoon Killers, no doubt suffers in comparison to that film, but it seems to me that it's getting something of a rough ride from other reviewers on this site.

The film actually tells two stories, that of the killers Ray Fernandez (Jared Leto) and Martha Beck (Salma Hayek), and the more soap-opera type story of the domestic and emotional problems police detective Elmer Robinson must cope with as he leads the hunt for them. The Fernandez/Beck tale is by far the more intriguing, but is under-developed and leaves you feeling as if you haven't really got under the skin of their characters. Their back-story is related in a couple of throwaway lines by Gandolfini, who narrates as well as playing the part of Robinson's long-suffering partner. Perhaps they gave him the narrating task as a consolation for lumbering him with a part whose sole purpose is to emphasise the emotional traumas Robinson undergoes as he delves deeper into a case others refuse to believe involves murder.

The writer/director, Todd Robinson, is the grandson of the real Elmer Robinson, so it's perhaps understandable – although not necessarily forgivable – that he devotes more screen time to Grandpa's woes than other directors might have chosen to. Travolta, looking distinctly middle-aged and thick around the waist these days – plays the part with a kind of self-conscious stoicism, his face contorted into a perpetual scowl. He's not the greatest actor in the world, but he just about passes muster here, even though the likes of Gandolfini and Caan – in yet another of his annoying (and completely superfluous) roles – act him off the screen without looking as if they're even trying. Leto is another standout as Ray Fernandez, almost making his character – really no more than a small-time hustler who finds himself out of his depth when he hooks up with psychopath Beck – sympathetic while never losing sight of the fact that he's portraying a predatory weasel. Sadly, Salma Hayek is badly miscast, and struggles to convey the madness constantly simmering beneath Beck's surface, even when she's holding a gun to Fernandez's privates or scaringly testing him after shooting the hapless widow he was making love to in the head. She also looks stunning, which should really be counted as another of the movie's flaws because the real Beck was definitely no sex goddess.

The film looks great, recapturing the look and feel of the 40s, and usually contrasting the dinginess of the cop's surroundings (even to the point of shadowing the corners of the frame) with the scenes shared by the killers, which are often brightly lit or set in bright sunshine. I'm not quite sure what point – if any – Robinson was trying to make in this regard but, at the very least, it gives an arresting look to the film.