Lonely
Hearts (2006)
Sony
Cast:
John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek,
Scott Caan, Laura Dern.
Rating:
R
Run
time: 108 mins
Genre:
Crime
Verdict:
Beautiful
(see rating
system)
How
did this little gem get away?
Based
on the true story of notorious "lonely hearts killers"
Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, this moody and atmospheric
film received a brief and very limited theatrical release.
Pity,
because the movie is a cut above your average crime caper
thanks to great chemistry between Travolta and Gandolfini
and solid performances from the rest of the cast.
The
movie's unerring sense of realism and attention to period
detail is aided by the fact writer/director Todd Robinson
is the grandson of Travolta's character, Elmer C. Robinson,
who pursued the killer couple and helped send them to the
electric chair.
The
movie falls short only in the casting of the gorgeous Selma
Hayek as Beck, who in real life was ugly and obese. Why is
it that Hollywood has to have a babe in such roles? Still,
Hayek does nail Beck's dark sexual obsession for Fernandez.
Fernandez
was a con man who duped single or widowed women he met through
"lonely hearts" ads he placed in newspapers. Once
he met Beck, who pretended to be his sister, murder was added
to the menu and the couple is believed to have killed at least
12 women for their money during the 1940s.
Robinson
and his partner Charles Hildebrandt (Gandolfini) finally caught
up with the pair shortly after they'd murdered a young widow
and her child.
A
dark journey though the pure evil that lurks in some people,
Lonely Hearts is a movie made with integrity - one of Travolta's
best for a while.
The
DVD includes a good documentary on the making of the film.
