IslandGuru
Who payed the critics
Lollivan
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Maleeha Vincent
It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.
Spikeopath
Junkhearts is directed by Tinge Krishnan and written by Simon Frank. It stars Eddie Marsan, Candese Reid, Tom Sturridge and Romola Garai. Story has Marsan as Frank, an alcoholic ex-soldier suffering nightmares over an incident that saw him shoot a young mother. Frank strikes up an unlikely friendship with Lynette (Reid), a homeless girl sleeping rough on the streets. Once barriers are broken down, Frank takes Lynette into his home to stay, but it's not long before Lynette's drug dealing boyfriend comes a calling...For the most part Junkhearts is a very gritty slice of British miserablism. The pic is populated by addicts and wannabe gangsters, in a part of London built of dingy concrete council abodes, and where single promiscuous moms struggle to keep a grip on their lives.Director Krishnan suffered herself from PTSD, so she was on hand to ensure the great Marsan could do the role justice, while there's a refreshing street believability about young Reid's performance. The camera work is intense and deliberately intruding, with the sound work being hypnotic to add bleaker tones to the characterisations. The harshness and hurts of addiction rings true here, as does the key betrayal plot line and the breakdown of Frank. Unfortunately the parallel plot line featuring Romola Garai undermines the grit and grime surrounding Frank and Lynette's world, and it sadly serves only to give the pic a somewhat disappointing ending. Whilst the introduction of gun and knife crime appraisals don't strike the requisite powerful chords.Yet even with its flaws this is still an intense film, with Marsan on top form and some other technical smarts on show, it's well worth a look by anyone interested in a slice of some moody British underbelly. 7/10
Shane Levene
Junkhearts is just about the best sci-fi/paranormal activityesque film I've seen all week. My favourite scene is where the aliens descend and take away our anti-hero (eddie marshan) for some serious self-analysis to try and get his head better after returning home war-down. I think the director did a great job with the CGI effects on Eddie's looks... he kinda looks like something that Wes Craven never used in The Hills Have Eyes (1 and 2). I must admit, some of the outer space scenes seemed a little unrealistic, and the scene where Danny (Tom Sturridge) and Christine (Romola Garai) had a passionate embrace on mars just didn't work for me. Still, sci-fi and genre aside, this little British jewel does have its serious side, taking us deep inside the mind of a mentally deranged soldier who is battling his urge to drink by going to war. With no more wars left, only those raging in the outer reaches of the galaxy, our marinated antagonist hits the bottle big time and that's when help (from a very unlikely source) arrives. It's here where I have what is probably my biggest problem with the film... the little props and scenery. The vodka looked like water and when the spaceship took off for the final time the cups in Christines house seemed empty and glued to the table. But this is a minor gripe considering just how great this film is. I guess when something is faultless you search out errors. It's like what My Physics teacher (Mr Knapton) once told me: "You'll NEVER get a 100% mark in your exam... 99.9%, yes, but NEVER 100. The markers will always find some error, no matter how irrelevant!" Well, I guess that speech hit me deeper than I thought, because here I am, 20 years later, proving Mr Knapton's theory 'One Star Down' theory correct. But back on subject, and to sum this hard-hitting, low budget Brit-flick up, I'd say it's the best Sci-fi pic I've seen this side of insanity. The director done well with limited budget and ex-Craven rejects and managed to pull of a stupendous action/effects film... all without a drop of blood anywhere!9 outta 10!!! Two thumbs up from Tristram Spencer!
James Dartmouth
I happened to stumble upon Junkhearts by chance as I had that it had played at London Film Festival so when I saw it was playing at the Curson Renoir I thought I would go along. The film was incredible. The honesty of Frank (Eddie Marsan) and Lynette's (Candice Reid) relationship was really moving and unlike a lot of British indie films, didn't take itself too seriously. Although a film of substance, the moments of hope such as the scene in the field where Frank teaches Lynette self defense (which is beautifully shot) and the moments of comedy, particularly in the momentarily staring role of the fish "Goldie", are really uplifting. The balance is perfect and although it isn't the most easy subject matter, the script allowed moments of laughter, which was shared with others in the cinemaEddie Marsan's performance is breathtaking. As an actor who's CV is filled with supporting roles, he takes center stage with a natural flare, conveying Frank's post-traumatic stress in a way that is perfectly subtle. It felt truthful and not at all forced, and I felt sympathy for him. He was easily likable.To counter this, the story introduces Danny (Tom Sturridge), Lynette's drug-dealing boyfriend. Sturridge didn't just create a standard, run of the mill villain, which is also credit to director Tinge Krishnan. He created a character that we felt sorry for, as Sturridge created someone who we understood, making it clear why his character, who I don't think was a bad person, was doing what he did. He was just stuck in a bad situation, desperate to get out. This storyline also strengthened the relationship between Frank and Lynette, as we see Frank as someone who can protect her and save her from the world that she has found herself in.If you see one film this year, make it Junkhearts. It is refreshing to see such an honest film, and the cast are exceptional. 5 stars.
RyanOwenEddleston
I've just seen Junkhearts at Chapter Arts centre in Cardiff. I saw Junkhearts solely because I'm a big fan of Eddie Marsan and wanted to see him in a lead role, as I think he's a fantastic actor with a great range and a lightness of touch. As expected Eddie Marsan was fantastic, here playing an ex-solider, and brought a freshness to quite a now archetypal character. Familiar as this archetype is, the character is normally played out in a flat depressed state that flies off the handle at a moments notice. Instead the director Tinge Krishnan chooses to create a distance between the character of Frank and everybody else, in terms of the acting, the cropped framing, the use of negative space, and specific points of focus, which works really effectively. Within Junkhearts we are also introduced to newcomer Candese Reid, who was found at Nottingham's Television Workshop – famous for Paddy Considine and the This Is England cast. Her character Lynette works her way under Frank's emotional barrier, fully realised in a spine-tingling scene where Frank cracks his first smile we've seen, bathed in gorgeous sun light. The performances of Frank and Lynette felt truthful and authentic and I felt sympathetic to each character and that's a testament to the director. Furthermore, the execution of the script really engaged me throughout. It was incredibly shot by Catherine Derry, I loved the self-defence/dance scene seeped in sunflare, the lovely bokeh in the bar scene with Shaun Dooley and Romola Garai, the bleak scenes in and around the tower block and lifts, the uncomfortable framing with Eddie when he's having flashbacks, the lovely slow-motion when he dances, and I loved the practical lighting, and the strip lighting inside the flat. If you like the work of Lynne Ramsay, Andrea Arnold, Mike Leigh, and Shane Meadows, Junkhearts could be right up your street. One to watch in 2012.
