A Disappointing Continuation

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

I found out about this movie by looking through Edward Furllong's filmography on IMDb and it looked interesting. American Heart is based on a story called "Streetwise" that was also directed by Martin Bell and was written by Peter Silverman, Martin Bell and Mary Ellen Mark. It is a very well written story and extremely well acted film. The basic story is that Jack Kelson (Jeff Bridges) gets out of jail for robbery and find out he has a son named Nick (Edward Furlong), (we don't know who the mother is but it is assumed that she died.) Anyway, they live in Seattle, Washington in a SRO hotel and they go through some rough times despite this they do love each other. Jack falls in love with a women named Charlotte (Lucinda Jenney) who tries to help him. Jeff Bridges's performance in this is excellent. As is Edward's. The only thing i didn't like was the ending . I give American Heart a 7/10.

An absolutely powerful movie with Jeff Bridges giving a sensational performance as a recently released prisoner connecting with his young son.This is definitely a film which shows the importance of environment in the lives of our protagonists. The Bridges character wants to go straight but is held back by environmental influences, and not being able to secure employment doesn't help the situation.His intelligent but emotionally wrought son wants to know more about his hooker mother. In constant outbursts with his father, he soon falls into the mean streets of the city and with other outcasts as well.While the ending of the film is tragic, there is hope for the new generation.

Jack is out of prison, and hoping to go straight in what is apparently Seattle, though his former partner Rainey wants him to return to his life of crime. Parole officer Normandy expects Jack to get a job and keep it, even though an ex-con with no skills won't have an easy time. Jack's 14-year-old son Nick wants to leave his aunt's farm. They end up living in a dump. Jack wants to move to Alaska and start over.Molly is 15 and lives downstairs from Jack and Nick, and she doesn't get along with her mother, who looks like Cyndi Lauper. Rollie is Nick's friend, and a bad influence, since neither of them care about school. Charlotte drives a taxi and was apparently Jack's girlfriend.This role was not typical Jeff Bridges, so I would say he did a good job as Jack. The character was tough but tender, and easy to like. Edward Furlong was good as Nick, and early in the movie, the best scenes had them together. Tracey Kapisky was tough but pleasant, considering her character was not exactly the girl next door. Later, though, the movie went downhill, and the scenes with father and son were the worst. There was a good ending of sorts, but no guarantee of 'happily ever after'.

I have to admit being somewhat biased toward this film, as I was living in the apartment building (at the time) where most of the filming took place! The rent was $225/month if I remember correctly, and it was indeed a "studio"... complete with bare bulb hanging from the ceiling and a lot of roaches :-) (the room used in the movie was somewhat nastier than the one I was in - there was a top floor, a middle and a basement, and I was living in one of the middle floor rooms at the time). But I got to see a great deal of the process of filming a movie (extremely interesting and educational) as well as meeting Jeff Bridges and Edward Furlong (no, I don't appear anywhere in the film as either an extra or an actor). As for the movie itself, it turned out quite a bit better than I had expected. Martin Bell is underrated as a director, and it's unfortunate that lately he's concentrated on TV rather than movies - he really is talented (See "Streetwise," 1984). The ending of American Heart really was sad, although we've seen it before in a lot of movies. Yet another reflection on the sad state of today's society.And now, a small revelation... in the movie, the apartment where "Jack" and his son lived was portrayed as being on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. Actually, the building used in filming was on Capitol Hill, a few blocks west of Broadway. No, I'm not going to give away the street address or the name of the apartments, sorry :-).My overall review for "American Heart" - 9/10.