The Heart of Me (2002)

50% of critics liked it
(60 reviews)
60% of users liked it
(1,900 ratings)

Upper crust England before, during, and after WWII provides the backdrop for THE HEART OF ME, a richly emotional drama about the seductive -- and destructive -- nature of passion. A classic romantic triangle, the film stars Helena Bonham Carter and Olivia Williams as sisters Dinah and Madeleine, and… More Upper crust England before, during, and after WWII provides the backdrop for THE HEART OF ME, a richly emotional drama about the seductive -- and destructive -- nature of passion. A classic romantic triangle, the film stars Helena Bonham Carter and Olivia Williams as sisters Dinah and Madeleine, and Paul Bettany as Rickie, Madeleine's husband, who finds himself drawn to his darkly beautiful, bohemian sister-in-law. Torn between two women, one who always plays by the rules and one who always breaks them, Rickie risks everything by falling into a clandestine affair with Dinah. What follows is more than a decade of deception, betrayal, and manipulation during which Rickie's carefully constructed world falls apart and he is all but destroyed by love. Over the years, the two sisters wage a fierce battle for his heart that exposes their vast differences as well as their surprising bonds.A sumptuously mounted vision of an all-but-vanished world, in which appearances and propriety govern every relationship, THE HEART OF ME is based on the 1953 best-seller, "The Echoing Grove," by noted novelist Rosamond Lehmann (and loosely based on her illicit affair with Poet Laureate, C. Day Lewis). Intricately structured as a progression of post-war flashbacks that gradually reveal a host of personal and societal conflicts, the film brings an unusual degree of sexual candor and dark psychology to a time and place normally thought of as "polite." The powerful performances of Bettany ("A Beautiful Mind", "A Knight's Tale") and Williams ("The Sixth Sense", "Rushmore") establish them as full-fledged romantic leads and, in her strongest role since her Oscar-nominated turn in "The Wings of the Dove," Bonham Carter once again shows she is unequalled in giving a modern face to period characters struggling with the boundaries of convention. -- © ThinkFilm

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 35 min.
Directed By: Thaddeus O'Sullivan
Written By: Lucinda Coxon
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Jun 13, 2003 Wide
On DVD: Feb 10, 2004
Studio: ThinkFilm

Critic Reviews

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press
A well-acted but bloodless drama.
Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel
While far from the gold standard of The Remains of the Day, it presses all the appropriate buttons.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
A little, heartbreaking gem.
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
Terribly tragic, terribly romantic and, ultimately, terribly, terribly dull.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The film is a soapy melodrama set from about 1936 to 1946 and done with style.
Loren King, Chicago Tribune
An old-fashioned weepie buffed to a Masterpiece Theater gloss.
Derek Adams, Time Out
O'Sullivan is not a director of great visual flamboyance, but he draws out here performances of subtle and complex shading.
Kevin Devine, PopMatters
Percolates with neurotic insecurity, painful deceit, busted opportunity, and pervasive regret, but the movie never capsizes under its own weight.
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star
Like its characters, takes far too long to show its heart.
Steve Schneider, Orlando Weekly
Three stars, for a trio of quality lead performances that survive the relentless card-shuffling of the plot -- and because Ricky Masters is just a great name any way you slice it.
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Under the several layers of stuffed shirts that this film seems to wear beats the heart of an old-fashioned, tearjerking romantic drama.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Dull and unmoving.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
Its unwieldy structure, which pops back and forth between the 1930s and '40s, makes the movie choppy for no good reason.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Walter M

[font=Century Gothic][color=darkred]"The Heart of Me" starts in 1934 in a well-to-do household in London. Madeleine(Olivia Williams) is constantly worrying about the marriage prospects for her bohemian sister, Dinah(Helena Bonham Carter). Getting Dinah married has been a lot… More
[font=Century Gothic][color=darkred]"The Heart of Me" starts in 1934 in a well-to-do household in London. Madeleine(Olivia Williams) is constantly worrying about the marriage prospects for her bohemian sister, Dinah(Helena Bonham Carter). Getting Dinah married has been a lot of trouble for Madeleine. Little does she suspect that the reason for this, is that Dinah is having an affair with Madeleine's husband, Rickie(Paul Bettany). The moral of the movie is that having an affair with your sister-in-law can be a lot of fun, until somebody gets pregnant. "The Heart of Me" is not that interesting with a good cast wasted playing types more than anythingelse. A flash forward to 1946 is awkward in giving away some of the story while cheating in other ways.[/color][/font]
Leo L

Great movie! Fantastic story plot. Amazing actors!