Hearts in Atlantis is an odd Stephen King adaptation that doesn't fall under the usual suspense or horror label associated with the writer. While there is a hint of the paranormal, this film has more in common with the period childhood recollection of Rob Reiner's Stand By Me, also taken from a King story. While the novel has five sections with overlapping characters set at different points during the decade, the film is adapted mostly from the first part, called Low Men In Yellow Coats, and aside from a modern day framing story, takes place entirely in 1960. The story concerns a young boy (Anton Yelchin) living with his widowed mother (Hope Davis), and what happens to their lives when an eccentric man (Anthony Hopkins) rents out the room on the top floor of their house.
Australian director Scott Hicks broke onto the international stage with his 1996 film Shine, which received seven Academy Award nominations, including one for himself, and a win for lead actor Geoffrey Rush. His next film was an adaptation of the bestselling novel Snow Falling on Cedars (1999). What Cedars shares with Hearts is the idea of how people are shaped by their memories, and how their intentions and motivations are read (or misread) by varying perspectives.
Despite taking place at the beginning of the 60's, when the country was at a peak level of optimism, and displaying a nostalgic Americana, a dark undercurrent runs throughout Hearts, hinting at the fear, distrust, and dissent that would grow with the Kennedy Assassination and culminate with the Vietnam War (a subject that looms large over most of King's book). A recurring visual motif of windows and mirrors suggests a reflection happening in the present tense, even if the characters lack the wisdom to understand the whole picture.
The screenplay adaptation is by William Goldman, two-time Oscar winner and writer of All the President's Men, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Misery, The Princess Bride, and Marathon Man. The film's immaculate photography is by Piotr Sobocinski, previously nominated for his work on Krzysztof Kieslowski's Three Colors: Red.
Film runs 101 minutes and will begin at approximately 9pm.
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