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LONELY HEARTS
Written & Directed by: Todd Robinson.
Produced by: Holly Wiersma & Boaz Davidson.
Director of Photography by: Peter Levy.
Edited by: Kathryn Himoff.
Music by: Mychael Danna.
Released by: Samuel Goldwyn Films/Roadside Attractions.
Country of Origin: USA. 108 min. Rated R.
With: John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek, Scott Caan, Alice Krige & Laura Dern.

It’s significant to note that the writer and director of Lonely Hearts, based on the lurid 1940s “Lonely Hearts Killers,” was the grandson of the real-life head detective on the case, Elmer C. Robinson. Through personal ads, Ray Fernandez would meet and seduce lonely war widows, and on a spree, kill one after another, aided by his girlfriend, Martha Beck. In the press notes, Robinson admits that while he appreciated the 1970 film, The Honeymoon Killers, which also told the story of the killings, he wanted to tell the side of the story not featured in that film, of his grandfather having to still deal with his wife’s suicide years before, contend with raising a son, having an affair with an office secretary, as well as the close but occasionally volatile relationship with his partner, Charles Hildebrandt. But still, the love-hate relationship between the disillusioned Fernandez and black widow Beck is much more captivating and exciting than the coinciding plot with Elmer’s investigation.

What Lonely Hearts ends up being is a mixed-bag of hit or miss film noir nuggets, where the dark, sordid psychological ties between the killer couple are the real show to behold while detective Robinson’s storyline consists of just run-of-the-mill male moping and procedural conventions. However, John Travolta, as Robinson, is better here than he has been of late (then again, who’s really taking Wild Hogs into consideration), by giving into the subtleties of the scenic mood.

James Gandolfini, as Hildebrandt, narrates the story of Fernandez and Beck, who met during one of Ray’s con jobs and fell deeply for each other – she more than he. Fernandez keeps getting the lonely widows to send him money, but Martha, a completely possessive harridan, kills Ray’s girlfriends out of paranoia and starts Ray off on his murderous path with more women. Here the acting is totally top-notch, with Jared Leto a charming foil for Salma Hayek’s saucy femme fatale, who makes her mark as one of the best in recent neo-noir. There’s even scenes of staggering humor, like when Beck goes head-on for a particular sexual encounter while Fernandez drives, only to be pulled over by a suspicious cop, forcing her to use her own “technique” for getting out of a ticket (which drives Fernandez crazy, as hilariously played in a frantic bit by Leto).

Almost all of the actors – save for Scott Caan, who’s given the thankless role of the awkward and off-key comic relief, a young wise-ass detective – range from very good to excellent, and at the same time the narrative pull goes more one way than the other. As the mystery unravels for Robinson and Hildebrandt, nothing really gains in dramatic momentum, and there’s a very average quality to how the scenes are both written and filmed, with just a slightly more polished flair in camerawork and editing than on episodic TV. And yet I would recommend the movie, up to a point, just for the Lonely Hearts Killers story, which oozes noir attitude of the average Joe and his accomplice, both portrayed with equal intelligence and spunk by Leto and Hayek. Jack Gattanella
April 13, 2007