The Good Heart

TIFF: Jacques (the great Brian Cox) is the crusty, misanthropic owner of a grungy dive located on an even grimier back street in New York. An epic chain smoker, he knows he has only a short time left. In the hospital after his fifth coronary, he meets the ultra-meek Lucas (Paul Dano), a homeless kid who has pretty much given up on life. Determined to keep his bar going, Jacques takes Lucas under his wing and schools him in the decidedly arcane rules he lives by. Unfortunately for Lucas, Jacques's preferred pedagogical method consists of yelling, ranting and throwing stuff. Some of his inviolable rules include no new customers, no fraternizing with customers and, most importantly, no women. Their friendship is put to the test when the lost and distraught April (Isild Le Besco) shows up at the bar and Lucas insists they help her out.

One of the most unique filmmakers to come from the Nordic region in the last decade (his debut was the Festival hit Nói Albínói), Icelandic director Dagur Kári has a penchant for the nominally socialized. Typically, his protagonists are only partially aware of their outsider status, possibly because most have created elaborate alternative structures to which they faithfully adhere, no matter the cost. The unspecified subject of every Kári film is reluctant redemption, the triumph of humanity and fellow feeling over all the obstacles we throw in front of them.

Beautifully designed and observed – the bar set is so spectacularly filthy the mould on the walls is virtually a character – The Good Heart is driven by Kári's sensitive direction and the stellar performances of the two leads. One of the finest actors working today, Cox delivers a sensational performance as Jacques, who may be the most irascible, unlikable character to appear in film in quite a while. (When he first shows up at the hospital, the nurses are furious that he's still hanging on to life.) Yet Cox invests him with a kind of perverse, recalcitrant charm. Dano more than holds his own against him, imbuing Lucas with a profoundly winsome appeal.

Ultimately, The Good Heart is a powerful and touching story that smartly – and courageously – asks us to empathize with those we would usually consider irredeemable.

--Steve Gravestock

Dagur Kári was born in France, raised in Iceland and studied directing at the National Film School of Denmark. His award-winning short films include The Violin Maker (97), Old Spice (98) and Lost Weekend (99). He directed a segment of the omnibus film Dramarama (01) and made his solo directorial debut with Nói Albínói, which screened at the Festival in 2003. His other features include Dark Horse (05) and his most recent film, The Good Heart (09).
____________________________

Larry Richman: The Good Heart was my first must-see of the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Brian Cox and Paul Dano (reunited after the 2001 indie classic L.I.E.) pull off a tour de force that left me breathless. The film was dominated by a triumphant performance from Cox, one of the film world's masters, who received a standing ovation as he was introduced after the film. Meeting him after the Q&A was my first true highlight of the festival. What a gracious man, as are all the greatest actors. There are many here at TIFF. At this point I'd say that Jennifer's Body and The Good Heart both demonstrate some masterful filmmaking.