TrueJoshNight Truly Dreadful Film

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

peterwink I've just watched this film on YouTube so the resolution wasn't great, however what an atmospheric well acted movie. The cops are hard boiled flawed individuals and the perpetrators were truly sociopathic. The portrayal the evil couple Ray and Martha knocked the 60s portrayal of Bonnie & Clyde into a cocked hat & probably is only equalled by Martin and Cissy in Badlands. This film didn't follow the formula of having a crescendo like conclusion, but things like this don't in real life, no one wins and all that's left is a big hole of sadness and I think that's what this film does so well. It emphasises the complete self absorption of the perpetrators and the tiny world they inhabit between themselves and demonstrates the evil they do when they interact with the real world. Well worth 8.5 a great telling of a true crime!

thekyles99 Real life murderous couple Martha Beck (Salma Hayek) and Raymond Fernandez (Jared Leto) and their murderous love affair is the main story of Todd Robinson's Lonely Hearts. Detective Elmer C. Robinson (John Travolta) his own life a tragedy in itself connects deeply with these two killer lovers as he neglected his own wife so much chasing these two that she took her own life leaving him alone to raise their son. This is the story of Robinson's crusade to bring this bonnie And Cyde type couple to justice. With the aid of his partner Det. Charles Hilderbrandt (James Gandolfini) Robinson tracks these two across the u.s reaping all of the aftermath of their crimes. I hated my comparison to Bonnie And Clyde as they only robbed banks and maybe shot the odd policeman who happened to get in their way. Beck and Fernandez were way different Fernandez who was infatuated with Beck and would even kill for her and did, and Beck who was psychotic in her returned love for robinson Quoted as saying : I was the only woman for Raymond. This movie could've fallen in the footsteps of Bonnie and clyde if it was only made a tad cooler and more believable. Hayek is awesome in the role in fact left me wanting to see her again in the future in a psychotic role. The only part of this that i didn't like is Hayek is extremely beautiful with a nice figure and the real life Marth Beck was anything but. Weighing in at 250lbs she always feared losing Fernandez to one of his cons. Which made her all the more jealous and murderous. Leto does a solid job as fernandez however i didn't really get the fear that this couple really invoked from these two actors. This movie needed a lot more spooky overtones.

kneiss1 I loved the actor, the atmosphere and especially the music. While the story itself wasn't great, it was told greatly. - The timing was perfect. All in all a great watching experience was created. If only I would have found the murdering couple more convincing. They have been drawn way too likable and "nice". It was simply unbelievable that those two sympathetic people could commit those crimes. (That goes especially for Jared Leto. Salma was able to convince me to be a beast most of the time.)The other problem I had, was the story around the detective Travolta. I didn't find it very interesting, and I believe it barely fit to the main theme of the movie.After checking IMDb I realized that this movie was based on a real story. Knowing that, I believe that the movie should have been more realistic, and more shocking. You didn't see their last and worst crime in the movie, you only heard the officers talking about it. Killing a child is one of the worst horrors you can commit. And it simply didn't seem shocking in this movie. There was no "shock effect". I don't ever want to see a child being killed on the television screen. That is not what I am asking for. - What they should have done, is: Show how they start to kill the child, and then turn back to John Travolta. That should have created the shock effect. I am not exactly a fan of movies telling real life crimes. I will never ever watch "an American Crime" again. - But I will always remember that movie with a shiver. I'll probably forget about Lonely Hearts.

Coventry I personally have a severe weakness for horror/thriller movies that are based on real-life serial killer cases, mostly because the truth is even viler and more disturbing than the imagination of any given Hollywood scriptwriter. I've seen numerous film adaptations of real murder cases, but one of the most jaw-dropping and fascinating stories for me undoubtedly remains Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck's the Lonely Heart killings. Their modus operandi was simple but frighteningly disturbing. During only a very short period of time – the second half of the 1940's – Beck and Fernandez are believed to have killed over twenty women; all of them aged spinsters and single mothers who were unfortunate enough to place an add in the lonely hearts section of a newspaper. With his looks and natural charms Raymond could easily seduce the poor women and, with Martha posing his sister, they robbed and killed them. The ironic aspect about the case is that they themselves met and fell in love through an add in the paper. These are strictly the facts of the case, but the problem with "Lonely Hearts" is that it's a Hollywood production and thus naturally tends to deviate from the genuineness in favor to appeal to wider audiences. The film introduces an impressive list of cast members, including John Travolta, Salma Hayek and James Gandolfini, and writer/director Todd Robinson is the actual grandson of police inspector Robinson who was in charge of the Lonely Hearts investigation. He processes a lot of rather irrelevant sub plots into the script, like the remorse over his own wife's suicide and the personal issues with his teenage son and colleague love interest, which aren't directly connected to the murder investigation. Therefore, if you're interested in a truly faithful adaptation of the same case, I strongly recommend Leonard Kastle's film "The Honeymoon Killers". That movie also features a lot more detailed accuracy. For example, the real Martha Beck was a woman struggling with obesity and a lack of confidence, whereas in this version she's portrayed by natural beauty Salma Hayek who spontaneously gives oral sex to a highway patrolman to evade a speeding ticket. Now, the occasional lack of accuracy and diversion doesn't mean that "Lonely Hearts" is a bad film, of course. Far from it, in fact, as I can honestly admit I was glued to the TV-screen throughout the entire film. The biggest trump is that Todd Robinson re-creates an admirably moody and depressing film-noir atmosphere, complete with typical narration and an astonishing cinematography. The costumes and scenery (including old cars and farmhouses), as well as the color schemes and music, catapult you straight back to the 1940's. In spite the fact that "Lonely Hearts" is full of famous Hollywood faces, the film is also surprisingly shockingly violent and occasionally even quite nihilistic in tone. The murders of Jeanette Long and Delphine Downing are graphically depicted and definitely not suitable for sensitive viewers. Last but not least the acting performances are praiseworthy. Especially Salma Hayek impresses with her portrayal of the sickly jealous and psychopathic Martha Beck and Jared Leto isn't bad neither, as the emotionless and sly Raymond Fernandez.