Lonely Hearts (C or 2/4 stars)
'Lonely Hearts' is a crime drama written & directed by Todd Robinson. Based on a true story, 2 homicide detectives, Robinson (John Travolta) & Hildebrandt (James Gandolfini), track Martha Beck (Salma Hayek) & Ray Fernandez (Jared Leto), a murderous duo known as the 'Lonely Hearts Killers' (because they lure their prey through personal ads). The acting is hit-&-miss. The film is not very good. And yet, I was drawn to it throughout. There's an intangible appeal here.
Setting: Late 1940's. While swindling lonely, rich women (of ALL ages), Ray meets the excitable, passionate Martha Beck. Though she's seemingly psychotic, they fall in love with each other. They join forces and cook up a deadly scam: Martha would pose as Ray's sister, and he'd reel in unsuspecting widows through newspaper personal ads. Feigning love, he'd court and/or marry the 'lonely' women, & Martha and he would then brutally murder them before emptying their bank accounts. This continues all across the country. And no less than 12 people die along the way. It isn't even the 'number' of deaths that matter, it's the situation revolving around 'how' they die that makes this story. Kinky sex and bloodbath murders go hand-in-hand.
Some of the murders have added tension because Martha is extremely jealous of Ray's women. He loves Martha, but she constantly thinks that he'll eventually fall for the victim-of-the-moment and leave her. Thanks to our detectives, they're caught and sentenced to death on August 22, 1949. Though their insanity plea was rejected and they faced the worst, they remained together (as close & tender as newlyweds), quite bizarre. As for Martha, she was so sinister that she loved indulging the gruesome details of all their murders. Appeals couldn't save them, and the pair was electrocuted together in Sing Sing prison.
It's mildly interesting to watch Robinson & Hildebrandt chase the culprits down (made difficult because of a lack of evidence), but I much preferred to watch Martha & Ray at their sociopathic best. What this film does well is captivate us by looking into the psyche of serial killer(s). Who knows if it's completely accurate? But I was still drawn in like a moth to a lamplight. The part of the film that focuses on Robinson (Travolta) & Rene (Laura Dern) is completely pointless. And much like The Black Dahlia, the plot lingers too long on the pursuit of the killers (Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhardt & Travolta, Gandolfini here).
Jared Leto & Salma Hayek 'look' good together, but don't always 'work' well together as an unsavory pairing. But it's hard to tear your eyes away from Hayek. Her face, lips, & dark eyes put you in a trance as her diabolical mind works in overtime. The movie is as straightforward as an arrow, so you're not gonna find a new perspective on serial killings. And although 'Lonely Hearts' is about murder, there's too much excess of soap-opera melodrama. I could go on & on with my issues in this movie. Yet amazingly, while I 'like' the film, I also get the feeling that a fantastic movie would have emerged with a completely different cast! I know, odd, but it makes sense to me.
Setting: Late 1940's. While swindling lonely, rich women (of ALL ages), Ray meets the excitable, passionate Martha Beck. Though she's seemingly psychotic, they fall in love with each other. They join forces and cook up a deadly scam: Martha would pose as Ray's sister, and he'd reel in unsuspecting widows through newspaper personal ads. Feigning love, he'd court and/or marry the 'lonely' women, & Martha and he would then brutally murder them before emptying their bank accounts. This continues all across the country. And no less than 12 people die along the way. It isn't even the 'number' of deaths that matter, it's the situation revolving around 'how' they die that makes this story. Kinky sex and bloodbath murders go hand-in-hand.
Some of the murders have added tension because Martha is extremely jealous of Ray's women. He loves Martha, but she constantly thinks that he'll eventually fall for the victim-of-the-moment and leave her. Thanks to our detectives, they're caught and sentenced to death on August 22, 1949. Though their insanity plea was rejected and they faced the worst, they remained together (as close & tender as newlyweds), quite bizarre. As for Martha, she was so sinister that she loved indulging the gruesome details of all their murders. Appeals couldn't save them, and the pair was electrocuted together in Sing Sing prison.
It's mildly interesting to watch Robinson & Hildebrandt chase the culprits down (made difficult because of a lack of evidence), but I much preferred to watch Martha & Ray at their sociopathic best. What this film does well is captivate us by looking into the psyche of serial killer(s). Who knows if it's completely accurate? But I was still drawn in like a moth to a lamplight. The part of the film that focuses on Robinson (Travolta) & Rene (Laura Dern) is completely pointless. And much like The Black Dahlia, the plot lingers too long on the pursuit of the killers (Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhardt & Travolta, Gandolfini here).
Jared Leto & Salma Hayek 'look' good together, but don't always 'work' well together as an unsavory pairing. But it's hard to tear your eyes away from Hayek. Her face, lips, & dark eyes put you in a trance as her diabolical mind works in overtime. The movie is as straightforward as an arrow, so you're not gonna find a new perspective on serial killings. And although 'Lonely Hearts' is about murder, there's too much excess of soap-opera melodrama. I could go on & on with my issues in this movie. Yet amazingly, while I 'like' the film, I also get the feeling that a fantastic movie would have emerged with a completely different cast! I know, odd, but it makes sense to me.