Main Cast: Christian Slater, Marisa Tomei, Rosie Perez, Kyle Secor, Willie Garson
Release Year: 1993
Country: US
Run Time: 102 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
More than a decade after 1982's Six Weeks, director Tony Bill once again explored romance, sentimentality, and dying young with Untamed Heart. The film stars Christian Slater as Adam, an shy and awkward busboy who saves waitress Caroline (Marisa Tomei) from being raped in a park late one night. Naturally, the two begin to fall in love. As their relationship progresses, Caroline discovers that Adam has a heart defect, though he claims he has a baboon heart. Rosie Perez also stars as Cindy, Caroline's sassy comic-relief-providing co-worker. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
Review
Tony Bill's unashamedly romantic weeper doesn't really introduce anything new into this played-out genre, but is teeming with affection and good intentions, and manages to capture a spirit that many more ambitious films lack. Marisa Tomei gives a performance that is genuinely irresistible (and arguably more memorable than her Oscar-winning portrayal in My Cousin Vinny), carefully shading in the fanciful aspirations of a working-class woman without resorting to drippiness. Her work is ingratiating and inventive, and gives credibility to a story that is pure fairy tale no matter. Its sentimental nature may put off some viewers, but those willing to resign themselves to Heart may find the film more rewarding than expected, disarming and, in its best moments, genuinely quixotic and wintry. Before its release, Untamed Heart was known by its far less conventional title, The Baboon Heart, which refers to the ailment of Christian Slater's character. ~ Jason Clark, All Movie Guide
John Beasley - Cook; James Cada - 1st Bill; John Paul Gamoke - Priest; Gary Groomes - 2nd Bill; Allen Hamilton - Doctor; Lotis Key - Nun; Joe Minjares - Jim; Tom Sierchio - Ronnie; Claudia Wilkens - Mother Camilla; Richard Grusin - Caroline's Father; Isabell Monk - Police Officer; Buffy Sedlachek - Lottie; Pat Clemons - Sister Helen; Josh Schaefer - Michael; Steve Cochran - Stromboli; Vincent Kartheiser - Orphan Boy
Credit
Tom Sierchio - Associate Producer, Marci Liroff - Associate Producer, Marci Liroff - Casting, Lynn Bernay - Costume Designer, Tony Bill - Director, Mia Goldman - Editor, J. Boyce Harman, Jr. - Executive Producer, Cliff Eidelman - Composer (Music Score), Anette Haellmigk - Camera Operator, Steven Jordan - Production Designer, Jack Ballance - Production Designer, Jost Vacano - Cinematographer, Tony Bill - Producer, Helen Buck Bartlett - Producer, Cliff Cunningham - Set Designer, David Gregory - Stunts, Tom Sierchio - Screenwriter, Janet Heaney - Screenwriter
Untamed Heart is a 1993 film starring Christian Slater and Marisa Tomei. It mixes drama with romance and comedy and tells the story of a young woman, always unlucky in love, finally finding true love in a very shy young man. The film is directed by Tony Bill, and written by Tom Sierchio. The original music score is composed by Cliff Eidelman.
Caroline (Tomei) is a young woman working as a waitress who is always unlucky in love. Adam (Slater) is a shy busboy who saves Caroline when two men try to rape her on her way home one night. She then gets to know him. They become close, but she finds out his past, and the attackers come after Adam for revenge. As their relationship progresses, Caroline discovers that Adam has a heart defect, though he claims he has a baboon heart.
Tony Bill discovered Tom Sierchio’s screenplay for Untamed Heart during one of his talent hunts. He asked an agent at William Morris to send him screenplays from new writers. Originally, Sierchio’s screenplay had been submitted as a writer’s sample. Bill showed the screenplay to producer Helen Bartlett who suggested that they option it. Within two weeks of Sierchio handing his script to his agent, MGM had greenlighted the project. Originally the film was entitled, The Baboon Heart in honor of an infant named Baby Fae (born 14 October 1984) who received a cross-species heart transplant from a baboon to fix a congenital heart defect.
Initially, Bill had not considered Christian Slater for the role of Adam, “but then it was just the obvious choice."[1] For the role of Caroline, Bill remembered auditioning Marisa Tomei for his earlier film, Five Corners. She had been too young for that role but after her success with My Cousin Vinny, he knew she was right for this film.
Sierchio’s screenplay was originally set in New Jersey but for logistical reasons they could not shoot there. The filmmakers considered finding a location to double for the state but while Bill, Bartlett and Sierchio were scouting in Minneapolis, they realized that it was the perfect place because of its strong acting community (they cast 35 of the film’s 40 roles from it) and a large commercial producing community which allowed them to utilize a mostly local crew.
The city’s locations were also a strong factor in deciding to shoot there. The centerpiece was Jim’s Coffee Shop & Bakery, which actually existed at the time of production but was closed to the public for the duration of shooting the film. Bill said, “It had a wonderful combination of ingredients from every diner you’ve ever been to; we’ve done very little to change it for the film. In fact, we changed the original name of the diner in the script to reflect that it is Jim’s."[2]
Principal photography began in March 1992 amidst cold temperatures. However, several scenes in winter were shot in May and fake snow had to be created to maintain the illusion. One scene was shot at the Met Center, the home of the Minnesota North Stars at the time.
Tomei wanted to have a believable regional accent and chose a driver who was from the area and could act as her “dialogue coach.” Once she got the accent down, she continued to speak in it on and off the set.
Reaction
Film critic Roger Ebert wrote that the movie was "kind of sweet and kind of goofy, and works because its heart is in the right place".[3] Hal Hinson of The Washington Post said that the film "is hopelessly syrupy, preposterous and more than a little bit lame, but, still, somehow it got to me".[4]Vincent Canby of The New York Times, said that the movie "is to the mind what freshly discarded chewing gum is to the sole of a shoe: an irritant that slows movement without any real danger of stopping it".[5]Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "B-" rating and Owen Gleiberman praised Tomei's performance: "With her flashing dark eyes and libidinous overbite, Tomei is adorable — she looks like a flirtatious bunny rabbit — but what's astonishing is the range of expression that passes over those delectable features".[6]Rolling Stone magazine's Peter Travers wrote, "The Rain Man-Dying Young elements in Tom Sierchio's script are pitfalls that Slater dodges with a wonderfully appealing performance. His love scenes with the dazzling Tomei have an uncommon delicacy".[7] In his review for The New Yorker, Anthony Lane praised Tomei for bringing "startling high spirits to a dullish role. She snatches moments of happiness out of the air and shares them out to anyone who’s around".[8] Mike Clark, in his review for USA Today, wrote, "Director Tony Bill (My Bodyguard) is adept both in the yarn's meticulous buildup and in his handling of the actors".[9]
