''American Heart'' is a 1992

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Martin Bell Martin Bell, (born 31 August 1938) is a British UNICEF (UNICEF UK) Ambassador, a former broadcast war reporter and former independent politician who became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton from 1997 to 2001. He is sometimes known as " ...

and starring

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He has received various accolades throughout his career spanning over seven decades, including an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bridges comes from a prominent ac ...

and

Edward Furlong Edward Walter Furlong (born August 2, 1977) is an American actor. He won Saturn and MTV Movie Awards for his breakthrough performance at age 13 as John Connor in James Cameron's '' Terminator 2: Judgment Day''; which was followed by a mini-seque ...

. It was nominated for the

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glas ...

in a number of categories and won in the Best Male Lead category.

Plot

Jack Kelson has just been released from prison in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

after serving a five-year sentence for robbing a jewelry store. His 14-year-old son Nick, whose mother has been dead for many years, is in desperate need of a father and arrives at the prison to meet him, but he is rebuffed. Nick persists on tagging along with Jack and the two take up residence at a cheap hotel. Over time, the two settle into a push-and-pull relationship. Jack tries to resist the pleas of his ex-partner Randy to return to robbery and finds a job downtown as a window washer. He also makes a phone call to a woman named Charlotte and they meet up at the hotel. It is revealed Charlotte had been writing letters to Jack while he was incarcerated, through the prison's publication ''American Heart'' where prisoners can solicit correspondence. Jack talks about moving to Alaska for a new life, but is not sure if he wants to bring Nick with him. Just as it appears Nick will be joining his father, he feels increasingly drawn to the life of crime his father is trying to avoid.

Cast

as Jack Kelson *

as Nick Kelson *

Lucinda Jenney Lucinda Jenney (born April 23, 1954) is an American actress. Early life Jenney was born in Long Island City in 1954. Career She began her acting career in 1979 with the film ''Impostors''. Several roles followed throughout the 1980s, with ap ...

as Charlotte * Tracey Kapisky as Molly * Don Harvey as Rainey

Production

''American Heart'' was filmed in

from August 1991 to October 1991. Elements of the screenplay for ''American Heart'' were based on material originally covered in Martin Bell's documentary film '' Streetwise'', such as the relationship between Dewayne and his father. To prepare for the role, Jeff Bridges worked closely with

Edward Bunker Edward Heward Bunker (December 31, 1933 – July 19, 2005) was an American author of crime fiction, a screenwriter, convicted felon and an actor. He wrote numerous books, some of which have been adapted into films. He wrote the scripts for—a ...

, an ex-con and author of the novel ''No Beast So Fierce'' which inspired the 1978 film ''

Straight Time ''Straight Time'' is a 1978 American crime drama neo-noir film directed by Ulu Grosbard and starring Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, Gary Busey, Harry Dean Stanton, M. Emmet Walsh, and Kathy Bates. Its plot follows a lifelong thief in Los Angel ...

''. Bridges also worked out with ex-cons to get his body in the shape of a prisoner. Edward Furlong was cast prior to the release of his debut film ''

Terminator 2 ''Terminator 2: Judgment Day'' is a 1991 American science-fiction action film directed by James Cameron, who co-wrote the script with William Wisher. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong, it is ...

'' when photographer

Mary Ellen Mark Mary Ellen Mark (March 20, 1940 – May 25, 2015) was an American photographer known for her photojournalism, documentary photography, portraiture, and advertising photography. She photographed people who were "away from mainstream society and t ...

did a photo essay on kid actors.

Reception

Release

The film had its world premiere at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

on September 17, 1992. It was then given a limited theatrical release in the United States on May 7, 1993.

Critical reception

''American Heart'' received positive reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, it has an approval rating of 80% based on 15 reviews. Bridges received widespread praise for his performance.

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote, "It's time to recognize Mr. Bridges as the most underappreciated great actor of his generation. Although he approaches this potentially showy role without fanfare or ostentation, he has managed to transform himself to an astonishing degree." Of Furlong, Maslin said he "brings great dignity and a powerful sense of yearning to Nick's efforts to win over his father. He is equally good at capturing the frustration that sets in once Nick realizes what an uphill battle this will be." Kevin Thomas of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' also gave a positive review, praising the film's "spiky humor" and opining, "Not since ''Straight Time''...has there here been a film that more convincingly depicted the plight of the ex-con in his struggle to earn an honest living than the engaging American Heart''.'" He also said the film "might have been a richer, more encompassing experience had its makers not so easily equated being downbeat with being realistic and honest."

Awards and nominations

''American Heart'' was nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards including Best First Feature for Martin Bell, Best Supporting Female for Lucinda Jenney, Best Supporting Male for Edward Furlong, and Best Cinematography for James R. Bagdonas. The film won for Best Male Lead for Jeff Bridges.

References

External links

* *
American Heart
' at AllMovie *{{rotten tomatoes, american_heart *
American Heart
' at

1992 films American drama films American independent films 1990s English-language films 1992 drama films Films scored by James Newton Howard 1992 independent films 1990s American films Films set in Seattle Films shot in Seattle Films about father–son relationships