The Violent Heart David Hulme W oodrow Wilson, the 28 th president of the United States, was perhaps the most idealistic of modern American presidents. But the classic that "The Violent Heart"seems to want to channel, deep down, is "Imitation of Life," a rare 20th Century Hollywood film that dealt directly with racism and sublimation in a prototypical (i.e. It somewhat profoundly depicts the ripple effects of violence via incidents involving Daniel and Aaron; it profoundly undermines this theme by turning the ripples into tidal waves, a metaphor I wield for its improbable defiance of the laws of physics. Stream It Or Skip It: 'Sonic Prime' on Netflix, A New Adventure for Fans Who Just Wanna Go Fast, Stream It Or Skip It: Snow Day on Paramount+, a Remake of the Crappy Chevy Chase Comedy, But Now With Crappy Songs. Jovan Adepo ("Fences,""Overlord") plays Daniel, a 24-year-old trying to get into the Marines in order to escape his small town andput his tragic family past behind him. Daniel understandably dealt with anger management issues his whole life, and did time as a juvenile for accidentally blinding a classmate inaschool fight. Read more of his work at johnserbaatlarge.com or follow him on Twitter: @johnserba. Always showing the love for mechanical things since a child, Daniel strives to become a mechanical engineer for the marines fifteen years after the mysterious murder of his older sister Wendy. All rights reserved. Recipients of grants will receive up to $7,500. We cant possibly know where their connection will take the two, and that open-endedness is whats best about the movie. the Terms and Policies, and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes. Does this movie even know how great it couldve been? What character strengths do the characters display? When deeply buried secrets of their town are revealed, reverberations of the violent past threaten to tear the couple apart. Memorable Dialogue: Dan gives his little brother some advice: You wanna be a real man, then you take the punch and you fing walk away.. By creating an account, you agree to the CLEVELAND (WVUE) - The Pelicans come away from their final game of a season-long five-game road trip (2-2 heading into this game) Monday (Jan. 16) afternoon with a 113-103 loss to the Cavs. Mystery & thriller, Adepo and Van Patten have decent chemistry, but their relationship seems ill-conceived from the start. He sees Wendy embrace another person, then hears gunshots. In The Violent Heart, writer-director Kerem Sanga (The Young Kieslowski) wants us to believe that were watching a sensitive post-racial romance about a goody-goody white Tennessee teen who challenges her familys unexamined biases by hooking up with the local bad boy who is Black and six years her senior when in fact, the movie pulls a fast one in the final act. Just confirm how you got your ticket. . 772, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved, Stream It Or Skip It: Noise on Netflix, in Which a Mother's Quest for Her Missing Daughter Illuminates Mexico's Epidemic of Kidnappings and Femicide, Stream It Or Skip It: 'She Said' on Peacock, a Journalism-Procedural About the Women Who Toppled Harvey Weinstein, Is The Pale Blue Eye Based on a True Story? The Violent Heart (1,126) 6.0 1 h 42 min 2021 X-Ray 18+ Fifteen years after his sister's senseless murder, Daniel finds himself falling for a vivacious high school senior named Cassie. Starring Jovan Adepo and Grace Van Patten. He also has a police record, for beating up a guy in a fight he didnt start. One day Joseph tells Cassie that she needs to take the car to a local garage for an oil change. [8][9] In December 2020, Gravitas Ventures acquired distribution rights to the film, and set it for a February 19, 2021, release. Sanga should have trusted this couple to steer the plot, instead of imprisoning them in it. by Gary Oldman DVD . Novak, Stream It Or Skip It: 'The Drop' on Hulu, an Offbeat Relationship Comedy Led by Anna Konkle, Stream It Or Skip It: To Leslie on VOD, in Which Andrea Riseborough Gives a Riveting Portrayal of a Woman in the Grip of Alcoholism, Netflix Warns Wall Street To Expect Worst Q4 Subscriber Growth Since 2014, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Mayor of Kingstown' Season 2 on Paramount+, Where Jeremy Renner Returns As A Brooding Fixer Between Cop And Criminal, Stream It Or Skip It: Mrs. Co-stars Jovan Adepo and Grace Van Patten have chemistry as a couple from different backgrounds falling in love, though Kerem Sanga's sensitive indie drama has other plans for them. Directors Kerem Sanga Starring Mary J. Blige, Lukas Haas, Cress Williams Genres Suspense, Drama Subtitles English [CC] Audio languages English ), Cut to 15 years later, where the 24-year-old Daniel (now played by Jovan Adepo of Watchmen) is working at an oil change/repair shop after having served time for a violent incident when he was in high school. 1,062, This story has been shared 958 times. The movie's strengths revolve around Daniel's story arc: his childhood trauma, his desire to join the military and make his father proud, his devotion to his mother (the excellent if underused Mary J. Blige) and 15-year-old brother Aaron (Jahi Di'Allo), who goes to the same high school as Cassie. Writer-director Kerem Sanga at least addresses this concern by having Daniel claim that Cassie is too young, while she proclaims she's an adult. Please enter your birth date to watch this video: You are not allowed to view this material at this time. The writer and director, Kerem Sanga, has created a world for his characters where messy relationships abound. 107 minutes.) Cassie is naturally starting to drift apart from Joseph and her mother Rose (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) in preparation for leaving the nest, and the tension is amplified when she returns to school from her first long afternoon with Daniel (who fixed her vehicle at the local garage where he works as a mechanic) and catches her father in what might be a compromising moment with a teacher (they both seem flustered as the teacher lets herself out of Daniel's classroom). As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. ", If These Walls Could Sing Charts History Of The Worlds Most Famous Recording Studio, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Sometimes When We Touch' on Paramount+, A Doc That Observes The Rise And Legacy Of The '70s Soft Rock Sound, Depeche Mode 101 Is 80s Synth Pop Postcard And Reality TV Blueprint, Stream It Or Skip It: Qala on Netflix, An Indian Movie That Will Remind You Of Black Swan, Stream It Or Skip It: Strange World on Disney+, an Animated Saga With Grand Visuals, Preachy Themes and Forgettable Characters. Race isn't overtly mentioned, but the movie is set in Tennessee, and Cassie's parents (Haas and Kimberly Williams-Paisley) mention "that boy" and how "troubled" he is, so it's there all the same. Expect a smattering of strong language ("f--k," "s--t," "oh my God") and a non-graphic love scene, as well as passionate kissing between a couple who are 24 and 18 -- an age difference that feels uncomfortable. Instead, its beholden to a string of coincidences, guilty of withholding information that, once revealed, ruptures the credibility of all that came before. It had its world premiere at the Deauville Film Festival on September 9, 2020. violent And for the people who have already watched that film, The Little Things, some could use the ending explained. When the elusive melodrama The Violent Heart begins, Daniel is a child who idolizes his older sister Wendy (Rayven Symone Ferrell). Daniel sees his sister sneak out the door and follows to a dark, secluded spot in the woods, where she is killed. The Violent Heart tells the kind of story that needs to seem written in the stars, and the muted chemistry between Cassie and Daniel keeps things from pumping with the force required to feel inexorable. A place where we celebrate love and life to its fullest, quite literally. Common Sense is a nonprofit organization. When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. For 75 minutes or so, writer/director Kerem Sanga seems to be rooting around for a narrative foothold, but admirably sidestepping melodramatic cliches for the stuff of mundane realism you know, indie-film fodder about character and setting and the disappointments and tragedies we all understand are unavoidable elements of Life on Earth. She repliesto reports of incidents that shattered his self image and wounded his soul with counter-examples of bad stuff that just happened to her. In addition, Jordan Preston Carter briefly appears as the young Daniel who witnesses his sister's murder. He has a short fuse and a felony record, but wants to make amends by enlisting in the Marines. Plot. 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Our story begins with an extended prologue in which 9-year-old Daniel (Jordan Preston Carter), who idolizes his teenage sister Wendy (Rayven Symone Ferrell), gets on his motorbike and follows Wendy after she sneaks out of the house in the middle of the night, suitcase in hand, to meet up with a man a man who shoots her in the woods as a horrified Daniel looks on. John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Harris Goes to Paris on Peacock, A Nicecore Fairytale with Deceptive Depth, Chelsea Handler Shocks Drew Barrymore With Dating App Horror Story, 'The Fabelmans' Flops on 'Jeopardy' After All 3 Contestants Fail to Name Spielberg's Film, Stream It Or Skip It: 'Riotsville, U.S.A.' on Hulu, a Quietly Seething Documentary Outlining the Roots of Modern Civil Unrest, Drew Barrymore Details Embarrassing Tailbone Injury on 'The Drew Barrymore Show': "It's Not a Hemorrhoid! How Edgar Allan Poe Inspired the Netflix Mystery, Gerard Butler Has Finally Found His Niche Making Dad Movies For Guys Who Might Not Even Be Dads Yet. (This isnt entirely their fault, as the screenplay gives Daniel just a few notes to play mostly variations on anger while Cassie is little more than a cipher.). Marvel Movies Ranked Worst to Best by Tomatometer, Jurassic Park Movies Ranked By Tomatometer, Golden Tomato Awards: Best Movies & TV of 2022, 10 WTF Horror Movies to Watch if You Loved M3GAN. by Ed McDonnell DVD . Before he met Cassie, he was a curled fist, ready to smash at the unfair world around him, to take his revenge, perhaps. I struggled mightily with this film. Hell breaks loose in the film's final stretch, and sure enough, that's when things finally start to cook. The Violent Heart, available on video on demand starting Friday, Feb. 19, is a combination love story/thriller about a 24-year-old Black man and an 18-year-old white girl who is still in high school. in " the violent heart ," writer-director kerem sanga ("the young kieslowski") wants us to believe that we're watching a sensitive post-racial romance about a goody-goody white tennessee teen. On DVD/Blu-ray: April 20, 2021 Drama, Thriller | 1h 47m Synopsis Trailers Cast Reviews The Violent Heart Fifteen years after the murder of his older sister, 24-year-old Daniel (Jovan Adepo) finds himself falling for Cassie (Grace Van Patten), an outgoing high school senior, in this Romeo & Juliet -style thriller set in the American heartland. Please click the link below to receive your verification email. Santa is ashamed of his past, pre-Santa life as a Viking who killed countless people with his hammer, Skullcrusher. On video on demand starting Friday, Feb. 19. 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Good movies can get away with murder, while bad movies cant get away with anything. Related Daniel and Cassies fundamental imbalance in life experience is racially coded. Sanga encourages his actors to underplay the rage and suspicion that lingers beneath their interactions, and he instead uses the movies electronic score to build a melancholy, even ominous mood. Why boil the pot with that brutal shooting up front, then relegate it to the back burner? One plot point that could have easily changed is the initially uncomfortable age difference between Daniel and Cassie. This item: The Violent Heart. Written and directed by KeremSanga, and unfolding in the type ofdesolate rural American landscape where movie characters tend to either battle over ownership of farmland or participate in demonic rituals, this movie arrives preceded by claims that it's a melodrama in the tradition of Douglas Sirk ("Magnificent Obsession"), embracing coincidence and tragic fate. Quiet and clenched and eager to follow his father into the Marines, he seems to be doing a pretty good job of it, but a jail stint on his record suggests that hasnt always been the case. Years later, Daniel (Jovan Adepo) is still dealing with the aftermath of this traumatic experience. And so Cassie dotes on her dad instead, until one afternoon, she walks in on him having an unscheduled after-class meeting with a woman who isnt her mom. No MPAA rating. Daniel has been living with his anger for long enough to name his demons, and the context he provides for that tricky balancing act (you start to not even notice it you kind of just become an angry person) frames the back half of this story with such bone-deep emotional force that its easy to forgive The Violent Heart for its occasional shortcuts and overarching contrivances. Seen the movie? The Marksman [DVD] The problem is that they seemingly have to tease out elements that are mostly glanced-over in the screenplayparticularly the racial dynamics of the relationship between Daniel and Cassie, and between Daniel's family and the town, which from all appearances is overwhelminglywhite. But what's onscreen feels more like a hushed, emotionally constipated middle-American indie drama, where pretty much everybody is weighed down by the horrors of the past even though they go about their days in clueless innocenceor lie about everything being fine. Going into "The Violent Heart," you must understand that the ending is insanely ridiculous. Even Aaron feels the grief of losing a sibling he never met. Related They won't be able to see your review if you only submit your rating. Their relationship escalates into romance while in Nashville, but it causes a stir back in their hometown. We wont be able to verify your ticket today, but its great to know for the future. 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