‘Hearts in Atlantis’

Anthony Hopkins stars in this haunting adaptation of a nostalgic Stephen King novella.   [PG-13]

By: Kam Williams
   Written in 1999, the book Hearts in Atlantis included a quintet of quintessential otherworldly short stories by fright-fiction author Stephen King. Set in New England during the turbulent 1960s, the narratives capture coming-of-age horrors that affected kids of the Vietnam War generation.

Anthony Hopkins stars in Hearts in Atlantis as a kindly old man convinced he is being hunted by ill-inclined monsters wearing yellow jackets.

   The title story follows the fate of several University of Maine college students who get so hooked on the card game Hearts that they flunk out of school. No longer exempt from the military draft, the protagonists end up in Vietnam, triggering for each a nightmarish descent into a never-ending personal hell that haunts them back in America.
   But wait, forget about that phantasmagoric, patriotic page-turner, because Hearts in Atlantis, the movie, is based on another novella from the collection, namely, Low Men in Yellow Coats. This tale revolves around events in the life of 11-year-old Bobby Garfield, a brave little boy being raised by his widowed mother in the mythical town of Harwich, Conn.
   Because Bobby’s mom is broke and emotionally unavailable, he finds some solace in his friendship with Ted Brautigan, the paternal, elderly boarder who lives upstairs. Brautigan, whose eyesight is failing, befriends the young lad with a copy of Lord of the Flies and a bribe to read the daily newspaper aloud.
   But this association comes at a price, as the kindly Ted is also convinced he is being hunted by ill-inclined monsters wearing yellow jackets.
   Brautigan infects the child with the creeping paranoia that has consumed his own psyche. The tale teaches how a well-meaning rescuer might inadvertently instigate a harrowing wave of terror.
   Hearts in Atlantis, the movie, follows the plot of Low Men in Yellow Coats, though it has points of departure I shall not spoil. Be forewarned, this PG-13 production has been sanitized to appeal to a school-age audience. While the result registers barely a blip on my bone-chill index, the movie is nonetheless recommended for diehard Stephen King fans unwilling to wait for the upcoming screen adaptation of his best-selling Dreamcatcher.

Russian-born Anton Yelchin (right) co-stars as Bobby, a brave little boy being raised by his widowed mother.

   This film is not in the class of such King classics as The Shining (1980), Misery (1990), Stand by Me (1986) or The Shawshank Redemption (1994), though it has its moments. It was directed by Uganda-born Scott Hicks, who received a pair of Oscar nominations for his work on Shine (1996), and stars Anthony Hopkins, who turns in a carefully calibrated performance as Ted, the town’s inscrutably mysterious newcomer.
   Russian-born Anton Yelchin co-stars as Bobby, while Hope Davis appears as Elizabeth, his self-indulgent mom. Carol and Sully, Bobby’s best friends, are capably played by Mika Boorem and Will Rothhaar, respectively. The cast is rounded out by David Morse, who you may remember as Brutus in The Green Mile, another Stephen King hit.
   Hearts in Atlantis is narrated by a now middle-aged Bobby in a series of flashbacks to events that occurred in the summer of 1960. The movie’s measured pace reels you in while treating you to a comfy suburban backdrop painstakingly re-creating the period. The enjoyable score is stocked with many catchy tunes of the Eisenhower Era, like the Crew Cuts’ "Sh-Boom" and Fats Domino’s "Ain’t That a Shame."
   Bobby is a typical adolescent, exploring issues of his emerging sexuality, while jockeying among his peers for social position in the pre-teen pecking order. But his mother’s inability to cope with his dad’s demise flings open the door to an uncharted, parallel universe where evil forces lurk. While the complete visual capture of the stunning cinematography is certain to evoke a sense of nostalgia in some, the story never does much more than scratch the surface of its elusively complex subject matter. And you are likely to leave the theater, as I did, scratching your head, wondering, "Is that it?"
   Expect Stand by Me-lite.
Rated PG-13. Contains spookiness, violence, rape and profanity.