Themes: Mysterious Strangers, Single Parents, Mothers and Sons
Main Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Anton Yelchin, Hope Davis, Mika Boorem, David Morse
Release Year: 2001
Run Time: 101 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
One of the short stories in a best-selling collection by author Stephen King becomes this mystery adapted for director Scott Hicks by screenwriter William Goldman, who previously transformed a King story into a box-office hit (Misery, 1990). In the summer of 1960, young Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) is sharing adventures with his best friends Carol (Mika Boorem) and Sully (Will Rothhaar) when an enigmatic lodger named Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) rents a room in his family's boarding house. Bobby's self-absorbed, widowed mother Liz (Hope Davis) couldn't care less about her son, so Bobby, who is being tormented by local bullies, quickly befriends the otherworldly Ted, becoming his confidante, and reading the paper to him to save the aging man's failing eyesight. Soon, Bobby learns that Ted possesses supernatural gifts, has a haunted past, and is being pursued by sinister men whose intentions are unclear. Hearts in Atlantis co-stars David Morse, who appeared in the previous King adaptation The Green Mile (1999), as the adult Bobby. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
Alan Tudyk - Monte Man; Tom Bower - Len Files; Celia Weston - Alana Files; Adam Le Fevre - Donald Biderman; Will Rothhaar - Sully-John; Timothy Reifsnyder - Harry Doolin; Deirdre O'Connell - Mrs. Gerber; Terry Beaver - Mr. Oliver; Joe T. Blakenship - Richie O'Rourke; Brett Fleisher - Willie Shearman; Joel F. Haberli - Sully's Dad; Evan Moses - Sully's Little Brother; Joshua Billings - Cabbie; Valerie Karasek - Sully's Widow; Graham Bardsley - Minister; Keith H. Beyer - Soldier at Funeral; Robert V. Maine - Soldier at Funeral; Sean Edwards - Soldier at Funeral; Mickey Leon McBride - Soldier at Funeral; Wes Johnson - Sport Announcer
Credit
Mark Worthington - Art Director, Mike Scott - Boom Operator, Randy Pease - Boom Operator, Kimberly Skyme - Casting, Carol Ness - Casting, Carl Youman - Consultant/advisor, Nicolas Dodd - Conductor, Julie Weiss - Costume Designer, Jeffrey Wetzel - First Assistant Director, Scott Hicks - Director, Henry Cline - Second Unit Director, Pip Karmel - Editor, Andrew Neil - Editor, Bruce Berman - Executive Producer, Michael Flynn - Executive Producer, Kenneth Belton - Hair Styles, Michaelle Vanderpool - Hair Styles, Charley Baxter - Location Manager, Mychael Danna - Composer (Music Score), John Bissell - Musical Direction/Supervision, Randy Houston Mercer - Makeup, Howard Berger - Makeup Special Effects, K.N.B. EFX Group - Makeup Special Effects, Paul Varrieur - Camera Operator, Lukasz Jogalla - Camera Operator, Barbara Ling - Production Designer, Piotr Sobocinski - Cinematographer, Kerry Heysen - Producer, C. Scott Baker - Set Designer, Heather Jenkins - Set Designer, Bob Porter - Stunts, Billy Anagnos - Stunts, Larry Nicholas - Stunts, John Martin - Stunts, Steve Mack - Stunts, Mickey Giacomazzi - Stunts Coordinator, Donna E. Bloom - Unit Production Manager, William Goldman - Screenwriter, Terrance Averett - Production Assistant, Niko Godfrey - Production Assistant, Tammy Blackburn - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Jennifer Henderson - Animal Trainer/Wrangler, Garrett M. Benson - First Assistant Camera, Jay Levy - First Assistant Camera, Russ Engels - Gaffer, Jay Douglas Kemp - Gaffer, Greg Martin - Grip, Michael S. Gearhart - Grip, John D. Kimmer - Grip, John C. Barber - Grip, Ron Glenn - Grip, Ignacio Aizcorbe - Grip, Jennie Hazlegrove - Grip, Frank Boone - Grip, Chip Ingram - Grip, Michael R. Adams - Grip, Chris A. Centrella - Key Grip, Bill Summers - Key Grip, Simon Leadley - Music Editor, David Archer - Musical Performer, Lori Flekser - Post Production Supervisor, Tricia Miles - Post Production Supervisor, Montez A. Monroe - Production Coordinator, Erik Nelson - Properties Master, Roger Savage - Re-Recording Mixer, Paul Pirola - Re-Recording Mixer, Christine Wilson - Script Supervisor, Courtenay Miles - Second Assistant Director, Jeff Rand - Special Effects Assistant, Scotty Blackwell - Special Effects Coordinator, Jeremy Hays - Special Effects Coordinator, Phil Bray - Still Photographer, David Boulton - ADR Mixer, Bob Deschaine - ADR Mixer, Tami Treadwell - ADR Recordist, Alex Raspa - ADR Recordist, Natalie Richards - Assistant Art Director, Jessica Fasman - Assistant Costumer Designer, John Crowder - Assistant Location Manager, Dawn Blacksten - Assistant Location Manager, Susan Jones Halloran - Assistant Location Manager, Chandler Martin - Assistant Location Manager, Christopher Rock - Assistant Location Manager, Steven George - Assistant Properties, Doug Dalisera - Best Boy Electric, Todd Ranson - Best Boy Electric, Robert Spencer - Best Boy Electric, Dean M. King - Best Boy Grip, Rodney French - Best Boy Grip, Skelly Cummings - Best Boy Grip, Rebecca-Lucia Weidner - Buyer, Matthew Haskins - Camera Loader, John Hamilton - Camera Loader, Connie Czemek - Casting Assistant, Georgina Perrins - Casting Assistant, Kate Hereford - Casting Assistant, Stacie Goodman - Casting Associate, Richard Blankenship - Construction Coordinator, Livia Ruzic - Dialogue Editor, Scott Leftridge - Dolly Grip, Tony Campenni - Dolly Grip, Tim Wicks - Electrician, Russell A. Wicks - Electrician, J. Dan Wright - Electrician, Donald Arros - Electrician, Aaron Johnson - Electrician, Timothy H. Coté - Electrician, Brian Johnson - Electrician, Mark Hutchings - Electrician, Dustin McQuate - Electrician, Kevin Campbell - Electrician, Christopher Thompson - Electrician, Jason Ballantine - First Assistant Editor, Gerard Long - Foley Artist, Steve Burgess - Foley Editor, Swift Moseley - Greensman, Alexandria Forster - Key Costumer, Bonnie Clevering - Key Hairstylist, Richard Dean - Key Make-up, Jay Klein - Leadman, Jennifer Bell - Second Assistant Camera, Glenn D. Kaplan - Second Assistant Camera, Cherilyn Bamard - Second Assistant Camera, Dale Roberts - Second Assistant Editor, Jack Steinberg - Second Second Assistant Director, Terry Clark - Set Dresser, John Tartaglino - Set Dresser, Gordon McVay - Set Dresser, A. Patrick Storey - Set Dresser, Jamie Bishop - Set Dresser, Ruben Flores - Set Production Assistant, Tyler Jay - Set Production Assistant, Phuong-Thuy Pham - Set Production Assistant, Stephanie Conway - Set Production Assistant, Timothy Blockburger - Set Production Assistant, David Honaker - Set Production Assistant, Kasia Adamik - Storyboard Artist, Matt Adler - ADR Loop Group, Greg Finley - ADR Loop Group, Tina Lifford - ADR Loop Group, David McCharen - ADR Loop Group, Doris Hess - ADR Loop Group, Efrain Figueroa - ADR Loop Group, Barbara Iley - ADR Loop Group, Kelsey Mulrooney - ADR Loop Group, Brie Larson - ADR Loop Group, Terrence Beasor - ADR Loop Group, Grady Hutt - ADR Loop Group, Daniel Hansen - ADR Loop Group, Caryle King - ADR Loop Group, David Randolph - ADR Loop Group, Nicole Balick - ADR Loop Group, Jazzmine Tisdale - ADR Loop Group, Mark C. Lawrence - ADR Loop Group, Ruth Zalduondo - ADR Loop Group, Brian Leach - Generator Operator, Pete Albert - Video Assist, Stephen King - Short Story Author
Hearts in Atlantis revolves around Robert "Bobby" Garfield, a middle-aged man recollecting his past, in particular the summer when he was eleven years old. During that summer he and his two friends Carol Gerber and John "Sully" Sullivan experienced many things together, the most mysterious of which was meeting an elderly drifter named Ted Brautigan.
Bobby lives with his single mother, the self-centered Liz Garfield, who takes in Brautigan as a boarder. Ted takes the lonely Bobby under his wing, while his mother is busy with her job and entertains her boss as a way of paying off debt supposedly left by Bobby's late father. The two form a father-son bond, and it slowly becomes clear that Ted has some psychic and telekinetic powers that rub off on the young boy. These same powers are the reason that Brautigan has come to this sleepy town; he has escaped the grasp of the "Low Men", strange people who would stop at nothing to get their hands back on Ted.
Ted offers Bobby a job - his eyes aren't as good as they used to be, so he asks the boy to read a newspaper for him, and to earn a dollar a week. That is so Bobby could buy a bicycle he wants. Bobby doesn't believe that this is the real job, and he is right. Ted asks Bobby to keep an eye on the neighbourhood looking for any signs of the "low men", like announcements about missing pets. Bobby sees one but doesn't tell Ted, afraid to lose his new friend.
Bobby, Carol and John have frequent conflicts with the local town bully, whom Ted is able to scare away by looking into his mind and finding out that his violence is used to cover up the fact that he is secretly a cross-dresser. However, at one point the bully hurts Carol, and when Ted manipulates her dislocated shoulder into place, Bobby's mother arrives, after being raped by her boss, and mistakenly believes that Ted is a child molester. She is confronted by Ted's ability to tell her the truth about what she has been through, and how her behavior is affecting her relationship with her son, providing another reason that Ted must leave. That and the "low people" are closing in on him.
Ted is eventually captured with the help of a tip from Bobby's selfish and unforgiving mother. As some form of closure Ted yells to Bobby as he is being driven away that he wouldn't have missed a moment "not for all the world" . And later Bobby mirrors the same feelings.
This movie received mixed reviews. As of March 2009, it has a score of 49% on Rotten Tomatoes, which concludes that "Hearts in Atlantis is well-acted and beautiful to look at, but the movie is nothing more than a mood piece."[1]
When the film was released on DVD, it shot to the top of the DVD release taking $48 million in the first two weeks.[citation needed]
Differences from the source material
The story that it was based on had deep ties into King's epic The Dark Tower. In the original novella, the 'low men' were in fact Can-toi, agents of the Crimson King. Ted Brautigan was a 'breaker', a psychic whose abilities made him able (unwillingly, of course) to 'break' down the beams surrounding the Dark Tower, the linchpin of all existence.
