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John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek, Scott Caan ... see more see more... , Alice Krige , Jason Gray-Stanford , Michael Gaston , John Doman , Bruce MacVittie , Michael Rispoli , Laura Dern , Dan Byrd , Andrew Wheeler , Bailee Madison , Ellen Travolta , Sam Travolta , James Martin Roberts , Kristian Truelsen , Christa Campbell , Marc Macaulay , Todd Terry , Steven Maye , Shannon Murphy , Nick Loren , Jonathan Rau , Karl Anthony , Valerie Grant , Matt Huffman , Arian Waring Ash , Gerald Owens , Petrus Antonius , Jeff Farley , Lauren Leech , Allison McKay , Jack Swanson , Bill Kelley , Heather Dawn , Margaret Travolta , Rachel Reynolds , Rachel Specter , Jimmy Leeward , Caroline Ross , Traci Robinson , Tom Chapman , Allen Walls , Dagmara Dominczyk

Todd Robinson's Lonely Hearts features John Travolta and James Gandolfini as Elmer C. Robinson and Charles Hildebrandt, a pair of homicide detectives who are on the trail of lovers on a crime spree. T... read more read more...he evil duo of Ray Fernandez (Jared Leto) and Martha Beck (Salma Hayek) take advantage of elderly widows, stealing as much money as they can after gaining the victim's confidence, and then murdering their mark. Robinson becomes drawn into the case too deeply in order to help him confront his feelings, as his wife has recently killed herself. The story is based on the real life "Lonely Hearts" killers of the late '40s, the infamous couple whom the director's grandfather played a large part in bringing to justice. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

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51% liked it

9,295 ratings

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48% liked it

42 critics

R, 1 hr. 47 min.

Directed by: Todd Robinson

Release Date: October 21, 2006

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DVD Release Date: July 31, 2007

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Flixster Reviews (998)

  • itsjustme2004
    November 30, 2011
    itsjustme2004
    Surprisingly good little crime thriller. The setting is a very realistic recreation of the late fourties. Salma is gorgeous, and magniciently evil. The rest of the cast is really good across the board...even Travolta. I really wasn't expecting too much from this movie, but I was ... read morereally amazed at the quality. Some rather intense brutality scenes, also.
  • sanjurosamurai
    November 25, 2011
    sanjurosamurai
    this was a phenomenal film. total sleeper because i hadnt heard anything about it, i just rented it based on the cast, and it was better than expected. much better. one of the best films of this year so far, the entire cast really delivered. the film was written well and i lo... read moreved gandolfini's narrative. salma heyak was top notch and the film was engaging but incredibly haunting and sad at the same time. worth a watch.
  • Deano78
    May 3, 2010
    Deano78
    A decent crime drama based on a true story of a murdering couple in the 1940's and 50's. It has an exceptional cast, but wonders between crime drama and the sub stories a bit too much. A slow paced film without a lot of action. ok but could have been a lot better.
  • 76Majikat
    October 31, 2008
    76Majikat
    LONELY HEARTS

    Jared Leto loses his boyish looks in this film as he transforms himself into an older man and teams up with Salma Hayek to become lovers on a rampage in a Bonnie & Clyde fashion.

    Worth watching, but don?t make it a high priority.
  • binky013
    October 1, 2007
    binky013
    Argh. Not bad enough to pull John Travolta from my favorite actors list, but if he starts stringing together a bunch of outings like this one, I may have to think about giving him the axe. Geez what a feckless and tastelessly done movie.

    For instance: And the point of sho

    ... read morewing us the executions at the end was . . . what exactly?
  • fernandorafael
    July 31, 2007
    fernandorafael
    lonely hearts....a really nice crime movie, that went under the radar this year, the writing is good, but what really grabs you from this film are the way the great salma hayek (mexican pride!!) and jared leto portray their parts, they are so convincing and really really good, th... read moree movie is very intense and full of drama, there are some really creepy moments, the soundtrack is nice, so is the photography and i just loved the sick love that hayek's character had for leto's
    john travolta was okay, dan byrd was good for the little time onscreen he had, same thing with laura dern, and james gandolfini....that dude acts the same way in everything he does.. awesome movie...
  • dunmyer
    April 20, 2007
    dunmyer
    [size=3][color=black]Lonely Hearts has great art direction, costumes, and cinematography. It's done in the style of classic film noir, which was a delight to see. But the script is so impoverished that you come up empty-handed.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black][img]http://ww... read morew.tribecafilmfestival.org/tixSYS/2006/filmguide/images/filmstills/4170.jpg[/img][/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]The plot is based on a true story of serial killers in the 1940s. [Once again, our epoch reveals its fascination with serial murderers, one of the cardinal aspects of our time. Although we may be shifting our fascination to a new breed of psycho killer, the kind that goes on a shooting rampage and then kills himself. But let's bracket that and put it aside.][/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]I'm pretty certain that the director is the son of the main character (played by John Travolta), who solves the murders and plays a big role in ensuring that the killers get executed. James Gandolfini plays his sidekick.[/color][/size]
    [size=3][/size]
    [img]http://movie.yesky.com/movie/cover/86/4086_001.jpg[/img]

    [size=3][color=black]Salma Hayek and Jared Leto, in a nice acting stretch for them, play the killers. Leto is the one who strives to give more depth to his character. But he doesn't have much to go on, given the shallowness of the script.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]Hayek gives the most showy performance. It's impossible not to watch her. But I didn't feel her work had much depth to it. It seemed cut from the same cloth as other murderers we've seen portrayed a million times. Hayek's character clearly is mentally ill, but I can't say we learn anything about her, except that she was raped a lot as a child. That seems to be an almost obligatory thing for scripts today to say about murderers. That's all we ever get.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]I was eager to see what Travolta would do in this film. He's such a mega-star right now that to see him doing what is essentially an indie was to me quite interesting. I suppose there's a part of him that still is a real actor. But can he deliver the goods? Not really.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]I appreciate that he played it so ugly, getting fat for the role. His face in particular is alarmingly bloated. He also doesn't play up his personal likability whatsoever. I don't believe there's one moment in the film when he smiles. And he doesn't try to ennoble the character in any undue manner to try to make him more sympathetic. Travolta seems only to care about being true to the character, warts and all. He never comes across as likable. That was really a pleasure to see from Travolta.[/color][/size]

    [size=3][color=black]But whereas I'm pleased that he didn't try to make the character likable, I'm displeased by the fact that Travolta didn't seem to try to make the character interesting. I never felt anything interesting about this man coming across. It seems that Travolta has lost his capacity to convey depth.[/color][/size]

    [size=3]Gandolfini gives the same performance he gives everywhere else. I cannot believe that he keeps getting cast in movies. He should stay on the small screen where he belongs. But truthfully, that's probably where Travolta belongs too. And Hayek I suppose as well. [/size]

    [size=3]Jared Leto was the only one in Lonely Hearts that struck me as a real movie actor. In the hands of the right directors, I could see Leto becoming an actor of real significance. I think this film is a real step forward for him.[/size]
  • crossbladezero
    October 15, 2011
    crossbladezero
    Man, now that is a stellar visual effect, receding Jared Leto's hairline. What did you think they did it with practical make-up? Please, if they tried that, his hair would just pop back out, because there's no getting rid of it by physical means. Seriously, if they dig him up man... read morey decades after his death, if for no other reason, they're going to display his skeleton in a museum because it still has hair, as well as his eye color, because nothing can kill those either. No, his eyeballs will be gone; I'm saying that his freakishly shiny corneas are just gonna be floating there and if that doesn't scream museum exhibit, then I don't know what does, but really, considering the state of severe stupidity society will no doubt be in once the immortal Nicki Minaj - who is immortal because I doubt you can kill a demon - is "Koeen uv da Planut", (No, they're gonna be so stupid that that's how their gonna spell it) they're gonna display ol' Jared Skeleto for his work in 30 Seconds to Mars, for they'll forget all about his acting career, because the immortal Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer (Again, because they're demons) won't leave the slightest trace of "popular" art films, let alone ones that people hadn't even heard of when they came out. That's a shame even now, because the people need to help get Leto's acting back at the forefront, because darn it, he's one of today's greats. This guy is just too blasted good to be putting acting in the back of his to-do list and here, he further proves that by carrying not just one, but like, five films at the same time, or at least that's how it felt, considering that these genre changes are about as forced as this segway.

    I love this concept of presenting the story of the "Lonely Hearts Killers" in the slick, but tensely gritty fashion it was meant to be told in, while at the same time, paying homage to the classic era of the detective-crime noir genre. Mr. Todd Robinson has written a fine script, but his execution of it is hit-or-miss, but when it misses, it misses something big. He gets tones down and executes the layers of our characters sharply, but when it comes to shifting the tone and layers, - as his script so often does - Robinson can't catch up as a director. To make matters worse, Robinson can't handle the shifts in focus in the storylines, especially when it comes to the Elmer C. Robinson storyline, where it doesn't seem like our director put in enough interest to make it as interesting as the story of the killers, leaving you begging for that story back when we switch to the Elmer Robinson storyline. Still, when it does finally switch, the transition is bumpy, partially because what storyline we do focus upon, we spend way too much time on, making the film feel severely unbalanced. Whether the director's the grandson to the hero or not, a multi-character study is hard to work with smoothly, especially for a first-timer, and Todd Robinson can't make it all snap together, thus leaving the film to squander its potential and sadly become rather unsatisfying. Still, although his storytelling is a bit off Tim Robinson delivers more as a first-timer than you migh think.

    He has a tough time shifting tone, but I feel that Todd Robinson delivers on what tone is at hand, whether when he's having to make something entertaining, or dramatic, or just plain tense, and when this film gets dark, it's both horrifying and golden, for Robinson has such an understanding of how to portray these twisted events in a disturbing, yet realistic fashion, and although his storytelling isn't perfect, the way he sets things up and keeps this film on a steady, but sure rise in compellingness, in spite of its uneveness, is extremely impressive. For that, I also have to give credit to the handsomely gritty cinematography, as well as the lively production designs and excellent soundtrack, but really, what carries this film and delivers more than anything else, might just be the performers. Now, as much as we'll give Travolta trash for his more recent work and - lord help us all - performance in "Battlefield Earth", he's still a generally pretty good performer, and here, he shows that by boasting the charisma, emotion and presence to carry what compellingness there is in the rather underwhelming Elmer C. Robinson storyline. Still, there's a reason why Robinson's storyline isn't as interesting as the killers' and that reason is because... well, it's a story about the adventure of charming murderers on the lamb. Still, what carries that storyline is, of course, the sharp chemistry between Salma Hayek and Jared Leto, as well as their fantastic performances. Hayek emits the sharply mysterious atmosphere that make the Martha Beck character and chillingly complex one. Of course, the performance right on par with her's is of course by my man, Jared Leto, who plays up every layer and emotion behind Raymond Fernandez in a humanly charming, when not compelling fashion and if you see this film for nothing else, then let it be for Hayek and Leto's stellar performances.

    In the end, Todd Robinson's study on the unraveling sanity of the "Lonely Hearts Killers", as well as the struggles of his grandfather as he hunts the killers down squanders its potential, due to the bumpy executions of the shifts in layers and tone that could have made this the darkly complex classic noir throwback it promised to be, but thanks to the very handsomely gritty style, sharp execution of the tones, - bumpy though, their shifts may be - steady rise in compellingness, as well as the all around solid performances, - headed by the stellar Jared Leto and Salma Hayek - "Lonely Hearts" stands as a generally enjoyable noir experience.

    3/5 - Good
  • SC007
    February 14, 2009
    SC007
    Disappointing, especially given who is in the film. Hayek and Gandolfini are really good in the film. However, Travolta and Leto seem miscast in this film. Leeto and Hayek, in my opinion didn't have good on screen chemistry.
  • Yinali
    August 31, 2007
    Yinali
    Very interesting movie, a little psycho, but I thought it was worth it.

View All Lonely Hearts Reviews

Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper
April 23, 2007
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

There is some strong work here, but too many misfires.

David Denby
April 16, 2007
David Denby, New Yorker

The story of Fernandez and Beck may be grotesque comedy, but Todd Robinson tells it straight, without flinching from its piteousness, horror, or banality. Full Review

Peter Travers
April 13, 2007
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

When Hayek and Leto are onscreen, you do not look away.

Stephen Whitty
April 13, 2007
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

It's with the focus on the police, though, that the script fails to truly connect. Full Review

Lou Lumenick
April 13, 2007
Lou Lumenick, New York Post

A rather plodding movie. Full Review

Elizabeth Weitzman
April 13, 2007
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

Oddly sterile. Full Review

Stephanie Zacharek
April 13, 2007
Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

The picture belongs to Salma Hayek. Full Review

Stephen Holden
April 13, 2007
Stephen Holden, New York Times

A beautifully photographed remake of 1970 cult B-movie The Honeymoon Killers succeeds better than many in balancing the philosophical with the visceral, although its villains' dirty deeds still trump ...

Alex Chun
April 12, 2007
Alex Chun, Los Angeles Times

While not much of a detective story, [director] Robinson's period film does provide a captivating look at the dynamics that turn Fernandez and Beck into serial killers. Full Review

Peter Rainer
April 12, 2007
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

Travolta gives a hangdog performance as the world-weary cop obsessed with rooting out the killers. Hayek and Leto share a few tart black comic moments as the film spirals into a bloodbath. Full Review

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Lonely Hearts Trivia

  • This movie has music written by Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison, but did NOT star the Beatles:  Answer »
  • Which of the following films did the Beatles NOT appear in?  Answer »
  • Who did the song Get Back in the bee gee's version of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and really helped perform it during the Beatles last concert (the rooftop concert U2 imitated in Rattle and Hum). He was also known as the 5th Beatle?   Answer »
  • Steve Martin, talented comedian, starred in at least two movie musicals. Which of the following pairs did he have a role in?  Answer »
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