Heartlands (2003)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

Stunningly simple and powerful, it is one of my favorite movies. Hope and tragedy is presented side by side in a series of events in the life of the main character. The acting is great and you may not recognize any of the main characters, making the plot feel like it was written for every man, and woman. A great soundtrack complements the story and gives the movie a very pleasing and inspiring feel. The great appeal of this movie is that it promises for each of us, just like for Colin, that a better life may be just around the next corner, so don't be afraid to go looking. If this movie doesn't tug at your heartstrings, nothing will. Please do not miss it.

At first sight this seemed to be one of those cheapo, feature-length, depressing British films that I have grown accustomed to over the past few years.I could not have been further off the mark. The characters were lovable, even if they weren't very realistic. The acting was very natural, and each scene was shot beautifully.I had not seen the Hero's Journey narrative used in this context before, but it worked well. Aided by the original Folk music score by Kate Rusby and John McCusker, the beautiful montages, and the unexpected resolution, this film brought a few tears to my eyes, and made me feel content.

You should like this film if you are a motorbike fan, if you liked seaside resorts as a kid, if you like gentle folk music, or if you were in the Brownies. In some ways it's a typical British film: understated humour, overstated contrasts between the good and the bad in English landscapes, various characters who overdo British stereotypes, and a hero who's a wimp; but it also carries the usual themes of a road movie, albeit more slowly than many road movies. It's also about "heart", in the figurative sense, which is about the only relevance the title has to the film ... except that the road trip goes across the central hills of England. It's obviously a low budget film, but it shows what can be achieved without big special effects.

A character study about a man who has to rebuild his life after his well-ordered and rather narrow world falls apart, Heartlands is charming and poignant, if a little slow-paced. The movie looks beautiful, with richly colored shots of some absolutely gorgeous bits of the countryside of northern England, and has a brilliant soundtrack that is mostly English folk music, with a few well-chosen exceptions. (Look for the cameo by folk singer Kate Rusby.) There are good performances by all the cast members, lead by Michael Sheen as the good-natured but naive Colin, who comes into his own after leaving his dull, stifling home town (and the "friends" who take advantage of him) behind.