Heartlands
Heartlands
| 27 April 2003 (USA)
Heartlands Trailers

Gentle Colin 'Col' Lawes happily lead a quiet life, running a news agency with his soiled-rotten wife Sandra and playing competition darts in the Atletic Arms team. Colin catches her committing adultery with team captain Geoff, a cop, who pretends Colin abused her. Col is thrown off the team just after it qualified for the league finals in Blackpool. He decides to travel there alone, hoping to win her back.

Reviews
Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.
BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Aspen Orson There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.
Andy Marriott This was a real treat for a couple of homesick Brits living in Australia. As good as The Full Monty for capturing Englishness in all its wonderful oddness; our obsession with hobbies, beer, and seaside holidays. Michael Sheen mirrors his Cloughy accent from the also excellent The Damned United. He overdoes the role slightly - a bit too tragi-comic for my taste - but the whole movie carries you happily along on its road trip through the beautiful Peak District on the road to ghastly Blackpool. Highlights for me were seeing the awesome Kate Rusby pop up as a pub singer and also a comment from one of the bikers when Sheen arrives at the said pub on his knackered moped: 'Look, it's Carl Fogarty'. Very English, funny, charming and somehow poignant. The ending does not disappoint.
andrew corr At first sight this seemed to be one of those cheapo, feature-length, depressing British films that I have grown accustomed to over the past few years.I could not have been further off the mark. The characters were lovable, even if they weren't very realistic. The acting was very natural, and each scene was shot beautifully.I had not seen the Hero's Journey narrative used in this context before, but it worked well. Aided by the original Folk music score by Kate Rusby and John McCusker, the beautiful montages, and the unexpected resolution, this film brought a few tears to my eyes, and made me feel content.
tomweeks I am an American, so I guess I missed the stereotypical treatment of the "hero" and his small town friends. I thought this was a charming little movie about a simple man who discovers some simple truths about himself and the world around him. The northern English countryside was beautifully presented. Since I live in a small town in the southern U.S., I am sensitive to stereotypical treatment of us provincial folk, but this movie seemed to be genuine in its affection for its protagonist and the denizens of the "north country". This well told little story shows us that life constantly takes strange little detours, and that sometimes it's best to go with the flow, and it does it without beating us over the head with the "message".
Adam Brosnan I was recommended this film by a chap who doesn't watch a lot of films, so i expected it to be not great. However I really enjoyed it,the film reminded me of a book that i read called the alchemist, which was about a boy who is searching for something and realises at the end that he had already found through the journey what he was looking for.This film has a very similar premise and thats what the film is about the journey to blackpool, how you can change your life in a small amount of time and how you can learn things from other people.All the characters in the film are warm and all have a different perception on life. The main character also seems to learn something from each of them. Its quite a clever little film. If you've seen everything you want to see then give this film a chance I reckon you'll like it