The Heart Of Me Review:

Synopsis

Helena Bonham Carter, Olivia Williams and Paul Bettany star in this Thaddeus O'Sullivan (Ordinary Decent Criminal) film based on the novel 'The Echoing Grove' by Rosamond Lehmannwill.

Madeleine (Williams - The Sixth Sense, To Kill A King) is a clever and successful socialite, to all appearances happily married to handsome banker Rickie (Bettany - A Beautiful Mind, A Knight's Tale). She oversees the 'smartest house in London' and criticises her free-spirited sister Dinah (Bonham Carter - The Wings Of The Dove, Planet Of The Apes) for remaining unmarried and unconventional. Dinah, who has recently returned from travelling, is a bohemian artist who vehemently opposes the codes of a society that places great value on appearances.

At the urging of her ever-scheming mother (Eleanor Brom), Dinah finally agrees to marry a rich suitor with little to recommend him except his money. However, after their engagement is announced Rickie confronts Dinah and begs her not to go through with the marriage. His outburst is confirmation of the unspoken attraction that has been growing between them, and they embark on a clandestine affair under Madeleine's nose.

As time passes and Rickie and Dinah remain hopelessly infatuated with one another, the truth eventually begins to come out, sparking a battle of wills between Madeleine and Dinah for Rickie's affections. The chain of events that follows is far from straightforward, leading to suffering, discovery, and many changes of fortune. All must choose between their true feelings and the importance of keeping up appearances.

Critique

Based on the novel 'The Echoing Grove' by Rosamond Lehmannwill, The Heart Of Me tells the story of a successful banker named Rickie (Paul Bettany). Married to London socialite Madeleine (Olivia Williams) and proud father of a young son, Rickie's life seems to be perfect. However, it becomes apparent that he shares a mutual desire for Dinah (Helena Bonham Carter), an artist and, most importantly, Madeleine's sister.

Despite boasting a classy cast and a quiet directorial approach by Thaddeus O'Sullivan, the film fails to work very well. There problem is not an abundance of bad points, but rather a paucity of good ones. As a result, the tale tends to tick along without registering much of anything either intentionally or otherwise - no tension, no passion, no humour, no melancholy, no nothing. Some scenes are too slow, while others work in isolation but fail to gel into a flowing narrative overall.

The relationship between Rickie and Dinah eventually bores - the feeling of forbidden excitement and infatuation meant to be shared by the viewer is severely lacking. Instead, the pair's interactions look dreadfully melodramatic for the most part. However, the relationship between Rickie and Madeleine is far more entertaining to study. The initial unease between the two is set up nicely by O'Sullivan and, even in later sections of the film, their limited interplay is intriguing to watch. Olivia William's strong performance is partially responsible for this, but the relationship between Dinah and Rickie usually moves the focus far, far away from Madeleine's domain.

The film manages to retain viewer interest despite its shortcomings, but the principal characters are still too distant for the audience at the time of the ending. Bonham Carter and Bettany are seemingly not the problem, almost matching the performance Williams, leaving one to point the finger of possible blame at the story itself. A more balanced approaching between Dinah and Madeleine, possibly just concentrating on the first hour or so of the film, might have been much more appealing to watch.

Overall, The Heart Of Me is a thoughtful film from Thaddeus O'Sullivan which has a strong cast and enough highlights to be worth watching, but the tale is terminally flawed at the script

5 out of 10

The Video

The anamorphic widescreen video transfer performs more than competently without overly impressing. A slight film of grain inhabits every shot, but this almost helps to sell the dated, period setting, rather than distract the viewer. Meanwhile, the colours, which intentionally look muted to a slight degree, come across with pleasing consistency.

Sharpness is average throughout and the black levels are without problems. As expected, no significant print damage has slipped through onto the DVD transfer and no major aliasing or edge enhancement is on display either. To summarise, therefore, the widescreen image on this disc delivers solidly in the technical categories yet fails to be a star performer overall.

7 out of 10

As is often the case with non-action films, the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is overly restrained and not ambitious enough in its design. Content like this is admittedly not in dire need of pronounced surround sound wizardry, but some more liberal usage of the rear speakers would have definitely been appreciated.

Dialogue is exceptionally clear and, at times, perhaps a little too loud given the volume levels of the other sound elements. On a few occasions, this excessive loudness makes the track sound slightly artificial. The surround channels are used at points for gentle score reproduction and even gentler ambience, while extremely infrequent directional effects also drift backwards.

Overall, this disc performs its elementary duties of dialogue delivery adequately, but should have been slightly more aggressive in its approach to the 5.1 format.

6 out of 10

The Extras

Only three extras are included with the disc, starting with the audio commentary by Director Thaddeus O'Sullivan and Screenwriter Lucinda Coxon. Presented in the Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo format, this is a fairly good track, but certainly not amazing by any measure. O'Sullivan obviously leads the track and Coxon chips in frequently with insightful comments about the scripting process and the balancing act of staying faithful to the original Rosamond Lehmannwill novel.

Within the commentary, fans will also find decent dissection of the plot and relevant references to the cast. A second track, possibly with one or more of the leading actors, would have been appreciated - there would have been ample space to have included such an item. Helena Bonham Carter, for example, has lent her voice to a commentary in the past and the input from her alternative viewpoint would have added significant value to the added features.

The supplements continue with a single deleted scene with introduction by Screenwriter Lucinda Coxon. The brief introduction is in audio form only and Coxon explains why the 4 minute scene was dropped from the final cut. The lack of O'Sullivan's voice here, especially considering that he featured on the commentary, is somewhat puzzling. The scene itself is presented in non-anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo.

This cut sequence, which takes place at Dinah's home, is paced very slowly and best left out of the finished product. Rickie and Dinah have a short conversation about some major revelations that occur halfway through the film. Whether further deleted footage exists is yet to be seen, but if there is and this scene is the pick of the bunch, then the decision to leave the rest off the disc is understandable. That said, however, the DVD is sparsely populated with extras and almost anything to fill the free space would have been recommended.

Finally, the disc offers the 2 minute theatrical trailer, which is presented in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1. The menu screens are static, but presented with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo background sound at least, while no booklet will accompany the DVD in its case.

Overall, this is a sub-standard set of extras that offers virtually nothing to the viewer except a decent audio commentary. Some interviews and an additional commentary would have been ideal (and realistic) upgrades to the supplements and, as the disc stands, there is very little to entice the borderline consumer into purchasing this title.

4 out of 10

Movie 5
Video 7
Audio 6
Extras 4

OVERALL (not an average) 6

DVD Bulletin

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