'Heartless' contains a lot of great moments, features a terrific cast and is moodily directed. Timothy Spall, Noel Clarke, Ruth Sheen have brief roles, and Jim Sturgess is astonishingly good as Jamie, the shy young man living in an inner city, crushed by the large birthmark that covers half of his face and much of his upper body.
A keen photographer, he witnesses hooligan crimes committed by a group of hooded creatures, only vaguely seen. He meets up with demonic Papa B (Joseph Mawle) and his (very) young assistant Belle (Nikita Mistry), and strikes a deal that might prove his salvation - or damnation.
Things start off brilliantly, but the film gets a bit too carried away with itself. There are possibly too many ideas, becomes difficult to follow and the central emotional thrust is lost. There are moments of unexpected but effective humour, but most events chronicle the hopeless intensity of Jamie's plight. Although he is wonderfully played, it becomes a bit too much. Whilst things move quickly, it might have been a good idea to slow things down a little, leave a few things out, and allow some of the interesting sub-plots to develop more naturally (Noel Clarke as AJ could have been explored more, possibly at the expense of the character She (John Macmillan) who is interesting, but ultimately superfluous.
Well worth a watch for its atmosphere is gruesomely effective set pieces. My score is 6 out of 10.
A keen photographer, he witnesses hooligan crimes committed by a group of hooded creatures, only vaguely seen. He meets up with demonic Papa B (Joseph Mawle) and his (very) young assistant Belle (Nikita Mistry), and strikes a deal that might prove his salvation - or damnation.
Things start off brilliantly, but the film gets a bit too carried away with itself. There are possibly too many ideas, becomes difficult to follow and the central emotional thrust is lost. There are moments of unexpected but effective humour, but most events chronicle the hopeless intensity of Jamie's plight. Although he is wonderfully played, it becomes a bit too much. Whilst things move quickly, it might have been a good idea to slow things down a little, leave a few things out, and allow some of the interesting sub-plots to develop more naturally (Noel Clarke as AJ could have been explored more, possibly at the expense of the character She (John Macmillan) who is interesting, but ultimately superfluous.
Well worth a watch for its atmosphere is gruesomely effective set pieces. My score is 6 out of 10.