User Reviews

In the late 40's, the swindler Raymond Martinez Fernandez (Jared Leto) seduced lonely women to steal their possessions. When he meets the deranged Martha Beck (Salma Hayek), they fall in love for each other. With the jealous Martha posing as if she were his sister, the crook Ray seduces and kills other women. Two New York Detectives - Elmer C. Robinson (John Travolta) and Charles Hildebrandt (James Gandolfini) - chase the sociopaths, but without having the evidence of a body. In the end of 40's, the couple is arrested and sentenced to death, being electrocuted in March, 1951 in Sing Sing.

"Lonely Hearts" is a simple story based on a true event supported by a great cast and excellent cinematography and costumes. The story of the "Lonely Hearts Killers" is violent and a flag for those pro-death penalty sentence. Cold blood killers like Raymond and Martha do not deserve to have a second chance in a society of human beings. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Os Fugitivos" ("The Runaways")

The Lonely Hearts Lonely Heart was released in Amsterdam without much hype. It also ran in few theatres. It is based on a true story of a couple who kills single women – widowed / divorced and rich to rob their money – "The Lonely Heart Killers".

The premise starts with Jared Leto fast talking his way through lonely heart women, and in that course meets Salma Hayek – an unemployed girl who joins hands with Jared and pretending as his sister – starts the race of going from one place to another – leaving a trial of murders. John Travolta and James Gandolfini play cops who are in pursue of this couple killers. The director Todd Robinson runs a parallel sub-plot of John Travolta's life and his evolving relationships with a Laura Dern and his son – I thought that was quite unnecessary, with the fact being the basic premise of the movie was very strong, and with Salma Hayek in her prime form – there was no need to add another female character.

Salma Hayek has played a subtly psychotic character who captures Jared Leto's life – and in jealously of Jared's involvement with widow or divorce women – goes on the rampage of killing them; at times forcing Jared to do so on her behalf. The story in the latter half is more engrossing than the former. During the last episode we assume that Salma develops an emotional bond with the women, whom they are trying to cheat – but the love to Jared and jealously of not bearing her man getting attracted towards any women – ends up in killing the women and also her young child.

John Travolta has given a punching performance as a cop who is seeking answers himself of his wife's suicide (the film begins with that scene) and building evidence to track the couple killers.

The film is shot very well, and the story develops and grows gradually upon you. The last scene of Salma and Jared's execution becomes touching by Salma's voice-over describing the love shared by them; as if our heart goes for actually saving this brutal killers.

Last a mention of Jared Leto, who looks in his getup similar to the original killer and hats off to him for giving a good performance. But the movie and show would be remembered by the cold blooded performance by beautiful Salma.

(6 Star)

I checked this film out at the Jacksonville Film Festival last weekend, and I've been thinking about it ever since. On the one hand, I can say I'm proud to live in the city where such a brilliantly directed and photographed film was made; on the other, this is a film I don't believe I ever need to watch again.

The performances of all the principal players - particularly Travolta, Gandolfini, Dern, Leto and Hayek - are amazing, brilliant, utterly believable, etc. The set and costume design, and cinematography are by themselves worthy of at least Academy Award nominations. And the story (based on real events, although I'm sure much was fictionalized), is both riveting and repulsive.

Salma Hayek stands out particularly for her portrayal of the seductive, depraved and sadistic Martha Beck, one half of the brutal "Lonely Hearts" killers. She should come with her own tag line, "If looks could kill..." Hayek's interpretation of this character is the polar opposite of Charlize Theron's in "Monster," but no less effective. I'm thinking that if Ms. Theron's work in that film deserved an Oscar, then Ms. Hayek deserves no less for the amazing way she makes her "beautiful butcher" completely believable.

Without spoiling the plot, let me just provide this advisory. If brutal, bloody murders, suicides, explicit (non-erotic) sexuality, and the constant dropping of the "F-bomb" - not in a sexual way - are not your thing, then you may want to skip this film. It's not a date movie or a chick flick by any means, despite the romantic come-on in the title. The film is almost completely devoid of humor; humor would seem inappropriate in this context.

Although justice is apparently served - this is revealed at the very beginning of the film - no one will walk away from this film feeling very uplifted by what they will have just seen.

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 clichés (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.

The exploits of a murderous couple who, in the late 1940s, became known as "The Lonely Hearts Killers" generated a great deal of public interest because of their long-running crime spree and the gruesome nature of the numerous murders that they committed. It's no surprise, therefore, that their story has already provided the basis for a couple of movies and the most notable of these was Leonard Kastle's "The Honeymoon Killers" (1970). In Kastle's movie, the focus remained exclusively on the couple and there was never any intimation that the police were on their tails. "Lonely Hearts", by contrast, tells its story by providing a balanced view of what took place, from the perspectives of both the criminals and the police.

Interestingly, director and screenwriter, Todd Robinson is the grandson of the homicide detective who arrested the two killers and so his motivation for telling the story in the way he does is perfectly understandable.

After the unexplained suicide of his wife three ears earlier, Nassau County police detective Elmer "Buster" Robinson (John Travolta) had fallen into a deep depression and unable to come to terms with what had happened, confined himself mainly to desk work. This changed however, when a woman's dead body was found in circumstances very similar to his wife's and his colleagues immediately concluded that the death was a suicide. From that point on, Buster became determined to prove that the woman in question had been murdered and to hunt down her killer. Although Detective Charles Hildebrandt (James Gandolfini), who'd been Buster's friend and partner since their "squad car days" wasn't convinced, he was nevertheless, pleased to see this positive change in his old buddy.

Raymond Martinez Fernandez (Jared Leto) was a small-time scam-artist whose speciality was locating lonely single women through the newspaper personal ads and after writing to them for a while, would seduce them before relieving them of as much money as possible. One of his marks was ex-nurse Martha Beck (Salma Hayek), but after discovering that she was unemployed, he immediately lost interest in her. Unexpectedly though, Martha recognised what Raymond was up to and enthusiastically joined him in his endeavours, posing as his sister. Unfortunately, Raymond soon discovered that his new partner-in-crime was intensely jealous of the ladies he targeted and was, not only swift to turn her hand to murder, but also to goad Raymond into murdering as well.

The couple's murderous rampage continued unabated for some time before Buster, who was also preoccupied by problems with his personal relationships, was eventually able to catch up with the pair and bring them to justice.

"Lonely Hearts" is a beautifully made film that successfully captures the look and atmosphere of the period in which it's set and features some great hardboiled dialogue. At one point, Buster predicts that "Hell's coming home for Xmas" if Raymond ever decides to dump Martha.

Adding an account of the police perspective on the investigation provides some extra interest but what's more difficult to understand is why some departures from the true story were included for no apparent reasons. Fernandez didn't, in fact, kill a police officer and an old man as depicted in this movie and Martha Beck, in reality, was an unattractive, insecure woman who weighed over 200 lbs and was not Hispanic.

This movie boasts a terrific cast of actors who turn in some excellent performances. John Travolta conveys the troubled nature of his character who's struggling to come to terms with the death of his wife and to overcome problems with his relationships with his son and his secret lover. Jared Leto is good as the toupee-wearing gigolo who finds himself on the road to Hell after meeting Martha and Salma Hayek, although obviously miscast, brings great vitality to her role and does especially well in the scenes that she shares with Leto. James Gandolfini (who provides the movie's entertaining narration) also does a good job of playing a tough cop, whilst also simultaneously showing the warmth that exists between Hildebrandt and Robinson.

Overall, "Lonely Hearts" is a worthwhile remake that's interesting and enjoyable to watch (especially for those who aren't too concerned about its factual inaccuracies).

Possible Spoilers. This is the 3rd version of the Lonely Hearts serial killers saga. Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck were two sickos who murdered many women during the 1940's and were finally caught and executed in 1949. Although not without interest the other two accounts of this creepy grim tale, The Honeymoon Killers and the Mexican film Deep Crimson are much better. This time around the story is seen mostly from the point of view of the detectives who were investigating the crimes and they are played by John Travolta and James Gandolfini both of who wear terrible toupees that really take away from their performances. In a film that has rather nice production values, I don't understand why more attention was not paid to their hair pieces. The killers are played by this time by Jared Leto and to my mind a very miscast Salma Hayek. The real Martha Beck was an unattractive overweight horror and I don't really understand why they cast a beautiful woman like Hayek in the role. Maybe it was a bit of perversion on the part of the screenwriter-director. Anyway this choice of casting takes away from the grimness of the story. Leto was a better choice as Raymond Fernandez, but if you want to see two really great performances check out Regina Orozco in Deep Crimson and Shirley Stoller in The Honeymoon Killers.

Well let me tell you. James Galdolfini and John Travolta were there and Todd Robinson gave a Q & A for about 10 minutes.

The Film:

The film is excellent, the story, the editing, the costume, the cinematography. It is a really well made film. The score was great also. From 1-10 I give the film and 8.

The Acting: Travolta, Gandolfino, Leto and Dern are good....However is Salma Hayek who steals the show. Her performance is like taken from a Film Noir of the 40s. She is volatile, sadistic and evil conniving femme fatale. She scores the best performance by far. Her lines are great and she looks stunning. You actually forget she is Salma Hayek. She becomes one with her character.

My Prediction: Salma Hayek will score an Oscar Nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her compelling and superb performance.

Salma gives a career changing performance. You forget she is the same actress that worked in such films as Wild Wild West and Bandidas. In the Lonely Hearts, she is glamorous. She is truly a "femme fatale." Her character is trying to find happiness, however she is looking for it in the wrong places. From the beginning, Salma Hayek's Martha Beck is powerful, complicated, passionate and SICK! By the time the film is ending, you see a dark, evil and destroyed character, yet you feel her pain. She wants happiness all along, but did not find it.

Best Lines: Martha: Has Anybody Ever Loved You that Much Detective? Martha: To Kill or Die....For You

In this scene she already has been captured and in being interrogated. She has no make-up and she looks evil! Yet mesmerizing. What I think could get her a nomination is that: She is not a leading character, yet she controls the movie. She has the emotional part on her side.

Todd Robinson directs this entertaining crime drama that picks up steam and rolls. Elmer Robinson(John Travolta)and colleagues Charles Hildebrandt(James Gandolfini)and Detective Reilly(Scott Caan)investigate a series of crimes in which the victims are lonely women that fall for a killer con man. Ray Fernandez, alias Ray Martin(Jared Leto)makes a living by placing ads in singles magazines and luring rich, lonely women into a relationship. Ray is aided by another psychopath, Martha Beck(Salma Hayek),who claims to be his sister and a nurse. As the body count increases, Martha becomes increasingly brutal, jealous and very combustible. Elmer is obsessed with solving these cold-blooded crimes. Of course it seems in a lot of crime films that the bad guys are more colorful and interesting than the heroes. No doubt about Miss Hayek dominating each scene she appears. Also in the cast: Laura Dern, Andrew Wheeler, Alice Krige and Dan Byrd.

Maybe if I hadn't seen "The Honeymoon Killers," a film that actually tried to capture the essence of the real crime, I might have been more sympathetic.

Maybe if I hadn't read about these crimes and saw the pictures of Martha Beck and knew how much her obesity motivated her jealousy, I might have accepted this garbage.

But I did see the earlier film, and I do know the history of the crime, and this film is an absolute travesty and a joke.

I love Salma Hayek, and she did her best with what she was given, but it is unforgivable to cast her as Martha Beck in this movie.

To cast a beautiful, voluptuous actress in the role makes no sense whatsoever, and it shows that the director knew nothing about the material he was filming.

But it gets worse...

The entire subplot with John Travolta and Tony Soprano (who Gandolfini was playing here) was excruciating. It was a plot device that trivialized everything else in this film. What, the actual crime story wasn't riveting enough? And the killings? One would never know how long it took the lady who was hit with the hammer to die, or that Fernandez had to finish the job by strangling her. Want to see real true-to-life horror, watch this killing in "The Honeymoon Killers," one of the most unsettling murders you will ever see on film.

And the horror of what was done to the mother and daughter? See the earlier flick. Here, this is totally diluted by not showing the killing of the child, but having Travolta get physically ill when he discovers the body. If you are going to cover the subject, why hide from the most appalling thing that these 2 did? It didn't have to be graphic, but this flick totally copped out.

Why was this even made? It was so much less honest, and less authentic than the earlier flick, which had it mostly right.

This film was unnecessary and was butchered by a director who had no concept of the relevance of the crime he was supposed to be documenting.

As I wrote, absolutely wretched.