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Lonely Hearts | 
| Director: Todd Robinson
Actors: John Travolta, James Gandolfini, Jared Leto, Salma Hayek, Scott Caan
Studio: Sony Pictures
Category: DVD
List Price: $14.94
Buy Used: $1.43
You Save: $13.51 (90%)
New (46) Used (65) from $1.43
Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 35414
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), French (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 99
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 108 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
MPN: 043396183063
UPC: 043396183063
EAN: 0043396183063
ASIN: B000QGEB1M
Theatrical Release Date: 2006
Release Date: July 31, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Love 'em and leave 'em--dead. That's the unstated but unmistakable motto of the predatory duo in Lonely Hearts, an affecting entry into the neo-noir landscape, with a twist: it's based on a true story. The all-star cast is led by John Travolta as detective Elmer Robinson, a dedicated cop haunted by the unexplained suicide of his wife. Travolta and his partner, played with blue-collar bravado by James Gandolfini, are old-style gumshoes who wear their characters as believably as they do their tattered fedoras. Travolta, particularly, wears his anguish on his tweedy sleeve, and underplays what could have been a scenery-chewing role. In the cops' crosshairs: evil lovebirds Martha Beck (Salma Hayek) and Ray Fernandez (Jared Leto), who prey on single women in "lonely hearts" advertisements, bilk them of their money, and! murder them--as much as a way to prove their twisted love for each other as for the financial gain. The film is uniformly well acted, and transports the viewer to a simpler America that nonetheless echoes modern-day internet dating and the perils that can accompany too much trust. Leto downplays his pretty-boy looks to become believable as the oily and unhinged Ray, and the gorgeous Hayek is made up to a fare-thee-well. Director Todd Robinson is the grandson of the real-life Elmer, and did the film as an homage to the case that consumed his grandfather. The making-of featurette is in some ways even more compelling than the feature, because of the moving interviews with the younger Robinson and his memories of his grandfather, and footage and news clips of the real-life Martha and Ray. There's plenty of fodder here for true-crime fans, and anyone who wants to savor a good shudder. --A.T. Hurley
Product Description
BASED ON THE TRUE STORY, TWO HOMOCIDE DETECTIVES TRACK MARTHA BECK & RAYMOND MARTINEZ, A MURDEROUS PAIR KNOW AS THE 'LONELY HEARTS KILLERS' WHO LURED THEIR VICTIMS THROUGH THE PERSONALS.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
 Poetry in motion. That's Selma Hayek walking away from June 12, 2009
JOHN GODFREY (Milwaukee ,WI USA)
the camera in her come & get me dress. Her swayng tush is worth the price. She plays Martha & brings out the murderous instincts of her partner, Ray (Jared Leto) in Lonely Hearts. He fancies himself a Lothario who woos then swindles lonely, wealthy women, widows with pensions etc. Then with Martha's help, murders them. Martha becomes blindly jealous when Ray gets intimate with these pigeons & it becomes their undoing. Ms Hayek & Leto do a fine job. So does John Travolta, playing Elmer Robinson, the police detective assigned to the case. It becomes highly personal & obsessive because of tragedy in his own life. James Gandolfini is his partner, a lazy, amiable detective. Really it's the same character he plays as Tony Soparano, except he's a cop instead of a sociopathic hood. Go figure.The movie spans 1927 When Elmer joins the P.D. to 1951 in the closing scenes. There is little notice of World WarII, except for the proliferation of widows with death benefits. A decent criminal police drama/thriller with a very good cast. Also a good "making of" extra on the dvd.
 Mayhem and tedium overwhelm art. May 17, 2009
lebvendors
Thirty minutes into the film, we started skipping chapters. Then we ejected the disc and watched a documentary about intelligent design.
 Tired serial killer retread March 14, 2009
Turfseer (New York, N.Y.)
Lonely Hearts chronicles the true story of the rise and fall of Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, serial killers, who were responsible for a series of gruesome murders beginning in 1949 on Long Island. Fernandez initially started as a solo act, conning widows and love-starved lonely hearts out of their life savings. After he met up with Beck (in real life unattractive and overweight but here played by the attractive Salma Hayek), the pair then turned to murder while plying their nefarious trade.
The film was written and directed by Todd Robinson, who happens to be the grandson of Detective Elmer Robinson, the lead detective who basically was responsible for tracking the two psychopaths down and bringing them to justice. Robinson is played by a grim-faced John Travolta who attempts to convey the detective's working class persona. James Gandolfini plays Charles Hildebrandt, Robinson's detective sidekick who is the film's narrator (a more skilled screenwriter could possibly have dispensed with the narration and conveyed important information on a visual level).
The main problem with the film's narrative is that we're a captive audience as the two intrepid detectives proceed very slowly in trying to establish that it's Fernandez and Beck who are responsible for the murders they are investigating. While the investigation may have proceeded at a snail's pace in real life, it doesn't make for good drama. A good deal of judicious editing could have improved this film quite a bit. What's more, Robinson and Hildebrandt are pitted against another team of detectives who are unethical and the 'good cop-bad cop' clashes between the two pairs are full of cliches (a scene involving a discussion about Jackie Robinson inside the squad room, tinged with racial overtones, appears clearly anachronistic).
Detective Robinson's troubled personal life constitutes the film's "B" Story. We learn that his wife had committed suicide prior to working on the Fernandez-Beck case but we never find out why she did it. Travolta doesn't have much to do except almost coming to blows with his superiors and colleagues whenever the subject of his late wife is brought to the fore. Laura Dern plays Robinson's girlfriend but that relationship doesn't seem to go anywhere during the film. Gandolfini is unable to jettison his Tony Soprano persona despite playing a character on the other side of the law.
The rest of the film deals with the relationship between Fernandez (played by Jared Leto) and Hayek's Beck. There aren't a great deal of twists and turns as the killers dispose of one victim after another. Hayek plays Beck as over the top and the director seems obsessed with emphasizing her penchant for oral sex. Leto's Fernandez is pretty much one note as we get it early on that he's a passive-aggressive personality, obeying the orders of his Svengali-like lover.
There's a great deal of attention paid to period detail in this film and it seems more attention was paid to the set design than on the script itself. Lonely Hearts was a failure at the box office and it's pretty clear that early word of mouth had to be pretty negative. It might have been a mistake on the part of the film's producers to have hired the grandson of the film's protagonist to write and direct as he was probably too close to the material to be objective about it. His grandfather's personal life did not turn out to be very engaging the way he told it.
The subject of Lonely Hearts was already done years ago in a much more successful film entitled "The Honeymoon Killers". One wonders if there was anything really more to say about this subject matter. With the glut of screenplays out there for producers to pick from, I'm wondering how and why Lonely Hearts actually got made. One thing is for sure: film buffs will not be talking about this one in the years to come.
Bad All Around December 23, 2008
Barbara Van Tassel (Roseburg, OR)
This movie had great potential, but was lost by bad acting by John Travolta. He was wooden, stiff and his fake hair piece was so lame. The editing was bad, too. All the other actors did o.k.
 Great film! December 19, 2008
Janine Santangelo (Florida, USA)
I'm partial to this film because it was filmed in the city I live in, Jacksonville. I got to briefly meet John Travolta during the shooting. I was fortunate enough to watch this film when it premiered at the Jacksonville Film Festival and I wish it would have been in theaters longer. It's a great film! I researched some of the facts behind the true story of this film and the director did his grandfather justice. Very interesting story! Hayek's performance was chilling!
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