Jack
Of The Red Hearts (2015/Arc Entertainment DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C Film: C+
Janet
Grillo's Jack of the Red Hearts (2015) is a heartwarming story
about a teenage girl named Jack (played superbly by Annasophia Robb,
who has matured since her performance in Tim Burton's Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory) that is a rough teenage runaway on the run
from her parole officer and loses custody of her young sister, whom
is she is involving in her diabolic schemes.
Desperate
to find a way to get her sister to live with her again, she
impersonates a trained caregiver and meets a family that have an
11-year-old autistic girl named Glory. This family ends up being the
one she never had where she falls for the older brother, befriends
the mother (Famke Janssen of the X-Men and Taken films)
and then of course is exposed for the fraud that she is. From here,
the story gets formulaic with a predictable ending you can see coming
from anywhere.
Though
not really my cup of the tea, the film delivers a powerful message
about autism and how even the roughest and toughest teens can be
teamed when they feel loved. The performances and production design
aren't terrible nor is the filmmaking as a whole.
The
film is presented on DVD in standard definition with an anamorphic
2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track
that sounds fine for the format. The colors are bright but there
would be incredible improvement in detail from a high definition
upgrade. No digital copy.
Extras
include PSA: Early Signs of Autism, a Behind The Scenes
featurette and Intro/ Autism/ Cinematography/ Janet.
A
decent family film full of very real struggles, Jack Of The Red
Hearts is equal parts heartwarming and predictable.
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
