Lonely Hearts (2006)

Director:

Todd Robinson

Guionista (WGA):

Todd Robinson (written by)

Release Date:

21 octubre 2006 (Taiwan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

Frase comercial:

Love can be murder.

Plot:

Based on the true story, two homicide detectives track Martha Beck and Raymond Martinez Fernandez, a murderous pair known as the "Lonely Hearts Killers" who lured their victims through the personals.

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Female To Male Foot In Crotch | Shot In The Head | Playing Footsie | Stabbing

Awards:

1 nomination

Comentarios de los usuarios:

Film noire + femme fatale + murder = one terrific movie

Cast

John Travolta	...	Elmer Robinson
James Gandolfini	...	Charles Hilderbrandt
Jared Leto	...	Ray Fernandez
Salma Hayek	...	Martha Beck
Scott Caan	...	Reilly
Laura Dern	...	Rene Fodie
Michael Gaston	...	D.A. Hunt
Bruce MacVittie	...	Eastman
Dan Byrd	...	Eddie Robinson
Andrew Wheeler	...	Detective Tooley
Alice Krige	...	Janet Long
Dagmara Dominczyk	...	Delphine Downing
John Doman	...	Chief MacSwain
Bailee Madison	...	Rainelle Downing
Ellen Travolta	...	Ida

También conocida como:

Lonely Hearts Killers (Germany)
Amores asesinos (Argentina) (Mexico) [es]

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and sexual content, nudity and language.

Duración:

108 min

País:

Germany | USA

Idioma:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sonido:

Dolby Digital

Clasificación:

Netherlands:16 | Germany:16 | Singapore:M18 | Italy:VM14 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 | Argentina:16 | USA:R | France:-12 | Japan:R-15 | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA

Company:

Millennium Films

Trivialidades:

The director's grandfather was Elmer C. Robinson, the cop who investigated the Lonely Hearts murders.

Goofs:

Factual errors: After the police find the blood under the floor boards in Fernandez's house, we hear Hildebrandt's voice-over that the cops just missed the couple as they were 5 miles away in Seaford, NY buying a flop top car. Fernandez's home was in Valley Stream which is close to 20 miles away from Seaford, not 5 miles.

Quotes:

Martha Beck: Has anybody ever loved you that much, detective? To kill or die... for you?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Making of 'Lonely Hearts' (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Wiggles

Film noire + femme fatale + murder = one terrific movie

"You know what they say about cops and donuts" quips Salma Hayek's character Martha Beck to James Gandolfini in the movie Lonely Hearts, "they're only good when they have a hole in them." This, coupled with Gandolfini's retort "funny, they say the same thing about women", captures the essence of the Chandler-esquire dialog that peppers this true crime homage to film noir.

The movie tells the story of Raymond Fernandez (Jared Leto) and Martha Beck who carved out their own chapter in the annals of crime history during the 1940s as the Lonely Hearts Killers. Together, Fernandez and Beck ran a con game using personal ads to seek out wealthy widows and single women with money. Fernandez would engage in correspondence with the women, eventually meeting them and gaining their trust as well as access to their money. Beck, would accompany him posing has his sister, helping Fernandez gain the trust of their victims, whom the two murdered after they'd drained their bank accounts. At the time of their capture, the body count they'd racked up was estimated at between 12 and 20.

Directed by Todd Robinson, the grandson of detective Elmer Robinson (played by John Travolta), the story alternates between that of Fernandez and Beck, and pursuing detectives Robinson and Hildebrandt (Gandolfini), with Gandolfini handling the connecting voice-over narration in traditional film noire patter.

Although some details are condensed for narrative purposes, the story largely sticks to the facts of the couple's actual murder spree, the only glaring discrepancy being the casting of Hayek as Beck, who in reality was a rotund, unattractive, battleaxe of a woman who maintained Fernandez's loyalty by granting his every sexual wish. The producers can be forgiven for opting to cast Hayek instead of a more credible Rosie O'Donnell type, however, as Hayek brings more than mere eye-candy to her role. She plays a sadistic, manipulative, cold-blooded murderer to the hilt, and practically serves as the driving engine for the film's story.

With a crackerjack cast of Travolta, Gandolfini, Hayek, Leto and Laura Dern (as Robinson's love interest) all bringing their A-game, coupled with a smartly written screenplay, snappy dialog, good pacing, excellent cinematography and direction, the only oddity about this film is that it was relegated to limited theatrical release, largely playing a few festivals before being relegated to DVD. Unlike the case it is based on, this is one crime that probably will remain unsolved.