'Hearts in Atlantis' lacks ...well, heart

The new sentimental coming-of-age film "Hearts in Atlantis," now open in area theaters, almost has a coronary while searching for its own heart.
   The movie, based on a 1999 Stephen King novel, is built around Ted (Anthony Hopkins), a mysterious older man who moves in upstairs to Bobby (Anton Yelchin) and his mother Elizabeth (Hope Davis) in '60s New England. Although his charms elude Elizabeth, a widow of six years, Bobby affectionately latches onto Ted.
   Bobby acts as the aging man's eyes and ears; not only does Bobby read the paper to Ted, he's also ordered to keep an eye out for "low characters" rummaging throughout the neighborhood who might be after Ted.
   The more time they spend together, Bobby learns that Ted has certain mystical powers that are above his youthful mind, but later Bobby learns that these unexplainable capabilities have been passed on to him.
   Ideally, by the movie's end, you'd know who Ted is and why "low characters" are chasing him, and what his powers are. But that's where "Hearts" palpitates and loses its consistency. These questions, which make up for most of the film's mystery quotient, are bafflingly left unanswered.
   Excluding this oversight, the moving pictures are exquisitely framed and the actors give mostly solid performances that match the picturesque scenery.
   There are some points when Bobby and Ted's odd relationship shows screen magic potential - heartwarming and uplifting - only to be lost when Hopkins gazes strangely into space and overdramatically recites another bit of dialogue.
   Hopkins is great - perhaps too good for this movie.
   But even with Hopkins' overacting, much of "Hearts of Atlantis" is carried by the child actors, and let's face it, some kids can carry a movie on their cuteness alone. Falling in the footsteps of many before him, Anton Yelchin knew where to draw the line of honest childish disbelief and boyish schmarm-charm. This definitely isn't the last we'll see of this talented young actor.
  
  

---

  © 2000 Corpus Christi Caller Times, a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.