At last September’s Toronto Film Festival, we were intrigued by Icelandic filmmaker Dagur Kári’s American debut (and third feature overall) “The Good Heart” and had hoped that the film would get some sort of distribution with its cast (Paul Dano and Brian Cox leading) and those involved. Today, Vulture not only premiered a poster for the film, but also revealed that it will be released by Magnolia Pictures theatrically on April 30th and on their Video-On-Demand platform on April 2nd.
‘Heart’ tells the story of Lucas (Dano), who attempts suicide and meets bar-owner Jacques (Cox) while in the hospital. The two quickly form a friendship and Lucas starts to work in Jacques’ bar. Jacques plans to have Lucas continue his position as manager of the dive bar but his intentions may be thwarted when Lucas takes up a love interest. The film apparently takes a “dramedy” slant, as Kári, commenting in the film’s presskit, seeks to “mix humor with poetry and comedy with tragedy.”
We look forward to the film, as Kári is an obvious talent, displayed in his compelling debut feature “Noí Albínói.” Judging from the trailer (watch it below), it doesn’t look like Kári had any trouble making the switch to English-language filmmaking like some esoteric filmmakers do (Wong Kar-wai’s “My Blueberry Nights” anyone?). Kári also scored the film with Orri Jónsson as the duo Slowblow, who also provided the excellent electronic/ambient score for ‘Noí’ as well as Kári’s second feature “Dark Horse.”
“The Good Heart” is a reunion of sorts for the lead actors. Dano’s breakout role was in the 2001 feature, “L.I.E.” which centered on a 15-year-old Long Island boy who loses everything, including his family and soon becomes involved in a relationship with a much older man (Cox). It’s a creepy, but involving film that you should see if you haven’t.