American Heart (1993)

Admirable film.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

An ex-convict (Jeff Bridges) is tracked down by his estranged teenage son (Edward Furlong), and the pair try to build a relationship and life together in Seattle.Elements of the screenplay for "American Heart" were based on material originally covered in the director's prior documentary film "Streetwise" (1984), such as the relationship between Dewayne and his father. Having not seen the earlier film, I cannot comment on the connection any more than that.Not surprisingly, Edward Furlong won an award for this, and Jeff Bridges is as great as ever (he is quite the natural). It is a shame that Furlong went on to a more questionable future. One cannot help but wonder if the early success tainted his later life.

I found out about this movie by looking through Edward Furllong's filmography on IMDb and it looked interesting. American Heart is based on a story called "Streetwise" that was also directed by Martin Bell and was written by Peter Silverman, Martin Bell and Mary Ellen Mark. It is a very well written story and extremely well acted film. The basic story is that Jack Kelson (Jeff Bridges) gets out of jail for robbery and find out he has a son named Nick (Edward Furlong), (we don't know who the mother is but it is assumed that she died.) Anyway, they live in Seattle, Washington in a SRO hotel and they go through some rough times despite this they do love each other. Jack falls in love with a women named Charlotte (Lucinda Jenney) who tries to help him. Jeff Bridges's performance in this is excellent. As is Edward's. The only thing i didn't like was the ending . I give American Heart a 7/10.

Jeff Bridges is so good in this film his performance will break your heart. The entire film is beautifully cast and played, with a very strong, and equally heartbreaking performance by Edward Furlong as Bridges' young son. The scenes between the two actors are pivotal and breathtaking. Their relationship is perilous for each of them because they've never known or been a real family, and have never explored their emotional vulnerabilities, or learned how to express love. When Bridges throws a framed photograph of the boy's mother on the floor, smashing the glass, Furlong, in pain and rage, retrieves the photo, and smashes his father's guitar to pieces. Bridges is drunk, but deep inside he truly cannot understand that his son loves his mother. These are characters who have known only the hardest possible life. "American Heart" cuts like the broken pieces of that photograph. This is a terrific film, and Jeff Bridges' finest performance.

American Heart casts Jeff Bridges in the role of a recently paroled convict who would like to make a fresh start of things. But from the gitgo he's saddled with a responsibility of his own making. His 14 year old son Edward Furlong runs away from the uncle he's been staying with and hooks up with Bridges. Sad to say but it's like they're doomed from the start. They live in an SRO hotel on Seattle's seamier side. Bridges is working as a window washer, barely making ends meet. Furlong tries to enroll in school, but the bureaucracy proves too much. He falls in with a lot of street kids including child hooker Tracey Kapisky who reminds me very much of Jodie Foster in Taxi. She's lives in the same SRO with her mother who's in the same profession and jealous of her daughter.Bridges also has a younger associate, Don Harvey who'd like to get him back in the criminal life. He's also found a bit of romance with a prison pen pal in Lucinda Jenney.American Heart is a real downer of a film, but very well done. Sad to these are very real people. But oddly enough it follows the same plot line as the Shirley Temple movie Now and Forever with Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard. Sort of like an R-rated version of it.This film is not one for those who like happy endings. Still I think it is one Jeff Bridges finest screen achievements.