The Good Heart

After collaborating in Michael Cuesta's superb L.I.E., Brian Cox and Paul Dano are reunited in this film from writer-director Dagur Kári, which affords both actors the opportunity to shine. Cox plays Jacques, a grizzled, irascible New York barman who suffers his fifth heart attack when he grows furious with an ineffectual anti-stress audiotape. Jacques winds up in the hospital beside Dano's Lucas, a homeless naïf who tried to commit suicide. Upon their release, the bartender announces that he's drafting the young man as his protégé and eventual successor. What happens isn't surprising—Jacques' bad ticker starts to melt under the influence of the good-natured Lucas, while the atmosphere of the bar changes too, especially after Lucas adds a girlfriend to the mix. It's not hard to guess where The Good Heart is headed after Jacques is told he's going to need a transplant to survive, so the unfolding story feels more like theatrical contrivance, ending with a twist that seems preordained from the start. Striving for warmth and charm, the film relies too heavily on whimsy and quirkiness, and while it's fun to watch Cox and Dano play off one another, the two leads are ultimately shortchanged by the script. Optional. (F. Swietek)