Crooked Hearts

My late wife and I always agreed that whenever Malkin called a movie 2 1/2 stars, it tended to be a winner. 3 stars tended to be way overrated on the basis of the actors' reputations, and four stars meant predictable Hollywood hoke and Malkin's tendency to suck up to the industry. See his contradictory reviews of Sergeant Rutledge and Breaker Morant.

I spent my career as a stage director with a hiatus doing TV. My search for segues became unrelenting and I was particularly impressed with the way in which this film flowed. Character development was also impressive. The extent to which the family was/had been dysfunctional was marvelously understated. Certainly a minimalist triumph.

Some very strong performances here, deft writing, and superior editing make for a seamless production. The end result is a small treasure. Reminds me of Virgin Suicides.

I was (pleasantly) surprised how this movie slowly and surely grew on me as I was viewing it. I also was thinking that "this has got to be Canadian; it has that edge." Once I saw the credits, it surely was.

The cast looked promising, but I was stunned to read the other comments about this movie. To compare this to Shakespeare would make the Bard spin in his grave. Not only did it not "grow on me" but I found it increasingly painful to view. The pain then turned to laughter as we started realize how stupid this movie actually was with it's predictable dialog and it's made-for-TV feel, straight from the Lifetime channel.The only lessons to be learned here besides always making your socks match your shirt, is that you should never keep incriminating items. The Warrens are one messed up family. So if there is absolutely nothing else on, It's one of those "it's so bad it's good" things. I give it 3 stars!

This would have to be one of my all-time favourite films!!! It's one of those brilliant little gems that get lost in the midst of all the over-hyped, formulaic things that Hollywood insists upon pumping out time after time. It is a story of a family torn apart by the indescression of one member. It is real & true & what people are willing to do to the ones they love. It is a must see for anyone sick of Hollywood hype. But be prepared to cry!!!

I saw this film recently on cable and found it almost Shakespearean in its depiction of family trouble: fundamental character flaws or weaknesses leading to tragedy, pride keeping the truth from being known when it would be better to bring things out in the open, old secrets coming back to wreak havoc.

It's not always an easy film to watch, because you want to stop certain things from happening. But every character is multi-dimensional and real, and - as in Shakespeare - there is humor in the story and hope for recovery and redemption in the end. I cared about these people and their situation.

Slow going at times, but give it a chance - it lingers.