Treasured Movie Revisited: Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.

When conceiving this blog, we set out to plumb the depths of Netflix obscurity. But, as I was waiting for the bus today, I was struck with a marvelous idea: We should make it a point to revisit movies that we adored as kids, and see what our impressions of them are now.

And so, here is my first offering. Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.

Runtime: 88 minutes
Rated: G
Cast: Gabrielle Anwar, Michael Schoeffling, Cliff Robertson, Dylan Kussman, Kathleen York, Frank Renzulli, Nancy Moore Atchison
Availability: DVD and Streaming
Viewer Rating: 3.9
Netflix predicted rating for Molly: 4.6 stars



This live-action Disney Family Classic stars Gabrielle Anwar [of recent Burn Notice fame], Cliff Robertson [has magnificent hair], and Michael Schoeffling [what has he done lately, anyway?]. Sonara Webster [played by Anwar] is a young girl dreaming of a grand life during the Great Depression. After life with her over-worked Aunt gets strained due to Sonara's willfulness, Sonara runs off to join the traveling carnival and learn how to jump horses off a high-dive into a pool of water. You honestly can't make this stuff up, because it's based on a true story - or so the credits tell me.

Oh gosh did I love this movie as a kid. I remember standing on my bed, arms out, pretending that I was waiting for a horse to gallop up a ramp for me to ride off into the air.

What. We all have our weird fantasies, I don't make fun of you for singing into a hairbrush [I bet you totally looked ridiculous].

Anyway, the movie opens with Sonara contemplating a haircut. Once she's done the deed, and her aunt sends her out with a paper bag over her head, Sonara stops and says hello to her horse, Lightning. Trouble ensues, and Sonara runs away from home to join the circus.

Every kid wanted to do that at some point, right? Not just me?

Good.

Moving on: She joins up with a band of folks who run a diving horses show. Sonara is hooked right away, and so she starts her new life.

There's romance, and drama, and Sonara never once gives up. I still enjoy this movie very much, and at least in my opinion, it's kept it's place in my mental catalogue of wins.

Wild Hearts! They can't be broken!


If you're interested, here's a cute video with some info about the real Sonora Webster. It's basically the Wikipedia article set to music and interspersed with photos:

RODJ Thursday!: Heart and Souls

It's RoDJ Thursday, and you know what that means. I was in a Robert Downey Jr mood anyway after watching Iron Man 2 (finally). This week's RoDJ Thursday movie is Heart and Souls, a 1993 feel-good flick about a shallow business-minded man named Thomas (Robert Downey Jr) who must help the four souls attached to him (Tom Sizemore, Kyra Sedgwick, Alfre Woodard and Charles Grodin) fulfill their dreams before they're whisked away to Heaven, and before Thomas' girlfriend (Elisabeth Shue) loses all patience with him.

Here're the deets:
Runtime: 104 minutes
Rated: PG-13
Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Charles Grodin, Elisabeth Shue, Alfre Woodard, Kyra Sedgwick, Tom Sizemore, David Paymer
Availability: DVD and Streaming
Veiwer Rating: 3.7
Netflix predicted rating for Lisa Ann: 3.9

Here's the trailer:

Aside from that they misspell the title of the movie during the whole thing until the title card at the end, the trailer hits on a lot of the best parts of the thing. I love pretty much everyone in this movie to start with, especially the leading man (if you haven't guessed by that we have a whole day devoted to him here at The Small Screen). It's good for pure fun, but if you want a deep, cerebral movie, this isn't it.

The best parts of the movie are 1) the interactions of the four spirits with young Thomas, played by the adorable Eric Lloyd of "The Wonder Years," and 2) anytime a spirit takes over older Thomas' body. Although some viewer reviews question RoDj's savvy at choosing this movie (it's not exactly award-winning material), there's no doubt that the role showcases his uncanny ability to take on any persona he likes at the drop of a hat. Here's a clip of him being possessed by Kyra Sedgwick and Tom Sizemore in a board meeting.

Annnd here's a collection of clips of the whole Walk Like A Man theme:

As the movie goes on, as you might have guessed, each soul fulfills his or her final wishes and is taken to Heaven on a big bus (?? just go with it), leaving a progressively more soft-hearted Thomas in their wake, which puts him in the perfect position at one hour thirty-two minutes for Elisabeth Shue to remember what she loves about him and accept him for who he is, now that he's more like she wanted. Aww.

For me, the beauty of this feel-good flick is that whatever RoDJ felt about doing it, whether he had fun or just needed the paycheck, he made me believe he was into it.

Then again, I basically believe characters in movies are real people, so I'll believe anything.

SO. Queue it, or can it? If you want a pick me up, if you at all admire RoDJ and want to see him play in turns a shifty ballsy thief, a shy aspiring singer-man, a loving and desperate mother, and a woman with long-lost-love syndrome - oh, and of course the staple hollow-hearted business man with commitment issues and a girlfriend who wants him to meet the folks. If you can stand early 90s-era notions of "cool" and dig a bit of 50s flavour with your cheese. Queue it.