The Good Heart

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The Good Heart

R

2010

1h 38m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

32%

Tomatometer

37 Reviews

58%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

Homeless and saved from almost certain death by a hospital staff, Lucas (Paul Dano) has nowhere to turn. The hospital staffers, though, are so taken with his kindness and generosity that they take up a collection to give him a fresh start. But when he's discharged, Lucas meets some fellow homeless people and gives away all the money he's just received. His roommate at the hospital, Jacques (Brian Cox), is also affected by the young man, and offers him a job at his bar.

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Laura Kern

Film Comment Magazine

11/13/2013

The relationship of the characters played by Cox and Dano, more innocent than the dynamic the two actors explored nine years ago in L.I.E., makes for an eccentric buddy-film gone right.

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Ian Buckwalter

NPR

07/18/2010

4.6/10

The movie's two bright spots are Cox and Dano, who perform excellently despite the dull inevitabilities the script forces on them.

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Mark Feeney

Boston Globe

05/13/2010

1.5/4

Cox doesn't so much chew the scenery as inhale it. Dano looks on in awe. Who can blame him? For that matter, who can blame Cox?

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

08/22/2023

3/4

Audiences will have no problem losing themselves in this rather enjoyable little character study.

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Mattie Lucas

From the Front Row

08/05/2019

2.5/4

A solid film buoyed by great performances, despite its flawed denouement and unnecessarily sappy message that seems tacked on as an afterthought.

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Monika Bartyzel

Collider

04/10/2018

The film is a moderately interesting look into matters of the heart, one that would be better served as a sharply edited short, than a meandering and sometimes depth-free feature.

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Jeffrey P

08/25/2024

Solid, well acted character study that captivates throughout despite a bitter humdrum pace.

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Brian L

12/01/2022

Just not funny. Racist but not funny. Is hanging little animals funny? Not at all funny.

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12/17/2021

Brain Cox outstanding liked the twist end

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Frances H

11/24/2015

I LIKED IT. Paul Dano and Brian Cox are such good actors.

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09/09/2014

Icelandic filmmaker Dagur Kári's drama is a solid, well made and written drama about an odd kinship between an old bartender Jacques (Brian Cox) and a wandering homeless young man Lucas (Paul Dano). The setting is New York, the starting point a failed suicide attempt by Lucas that brings the two characters together. "The Good Heart" is darkly humorous, but also serves as smart social commentary that slowly crawls beneath the skin of its characters. The narrative is brutal but compassionate towards the two men who are united in hopelessness. Jacques knows he's dying soon of a failing heart, adamant to make Lucas his successor. But the unfortunate boy seems to have too good a heart for business. The film gets a bit too sentimental at times, but this can be largely excused as Kári's take on storytelling is clearly one of a modern Dickens fable. The cinematography reflects this with a seeing-beauty-among-the-rubble approach. What makes the movie is the leading actors. Isild Le Besco has been given a bit too little to work with as a modern damsel in distress, but Paul Dano delivers again. Brian Cox truly shines as the deeply misanthropic and specifically misogynistic Jacques. Kári has written some marvelous dialog for the actors to build their characters with.

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03/15/2014

Pure Quirky Goodness! Highly underrated!

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Dagur Kári

Director

Brian Cox

Jacques

Paul Dano

Lucas

Isild Le Besco

April

Bill Buell

Roger Verne

Susan Blommaert

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35%

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Synopsis

Homeless and saved from almost certain death by a hospital staff, Lucas (Paul Dano) has nowhere to turn. The hospital staffers, though, are so taken with his kindness and generosity that they take up a collection to give him a fresh start. But when he's discharged, Lucas meets some fellow homeless people and gives away all the money he's just received. His roommate at the hospital, Jacques (Brian Cox), is also affected by the young man, and offers him a job at his bar.

Director: Dagur Kári
Producer: Skuli Fr. Malmquist, Þór Sigurjónsson
Screenwriter: Dagur Kári
Distributor: Magnolia Pictures
Production Co: Nimbus Film, Wild Bunch, Forensic Films, Zik Zak Kvikmyndir, Ex Nihilo, Palomar Pictures, ZDF/Arte
Rating: R (A Disturbing Image|Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 30, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 11, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $20.0K
Runtime: 1h 38m

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