The only minor drawback with American Heart, and it should not be a big one for most concerned, is that so much of it is taken and/or borrowed from the details and real people and situations documented by director Martin Bell in Streetwise that it almost feels very slightly watered down in comparison. This is not to say that American Heart doesn't have its share of nicely defined grit or realism, but for those handful of viewers who were lucky enough to see Streetwise it isn't quite exactly the same, despite the similar locations and (some) real street kids used again and Tom Waits song accompaniment from time to time.But this is minor as a liability for two reasons: 1) Martin Bell is out to make a film for all those audiences, however small in the independent film market, who didn't get to see Streetwise and want the facts put into a perspective of compelling dramatization, and he shows the goods as a director of naturalistic settings and specific scenes, and 2) Jeff Bridges. Bridges plays a character based upon a real convict (featured in only one, but perhaps the most shattering, scene of Streetwise) who is out of jail and has to take care of his 15 year old son played by very young Edward Furlong. Bridges gets so deep into this character, so in touch with the hard-bitten mannerisms and hard-knock-lived way to his voice and even the bits of vulnerability that it's hard to see it as anything less than remarkable.If Furlong isn't quite as remarkable maybe it's to be expected since, frankly, he was still too young to impress much further than his own affected way of speaking and acting. Yet he is fantastic at playing off of this father character, who isn't unloving but knows what road he could go down with just one wrong step (such as, for instance, getting into business with his old crooked diamond-stealing partner). American Heart, on its own terms, allows for Bridges to show what a small treasure (yes, breaking out the pompous terminology like 'treasure') he can be as an actor in American film, and brings to light the degradation of the urban life in Seattle.Indeed, as a big credit to Martin Bell, it's no less harrowing at times watching these people on the streets, in the bars or the crummy hotel rooms trying to get by or hanging out, living by wits end (if that) as in Streetwise. Only Herzog, with his two films on Dieter Dengler, can probably top Bell's films on Seattle's lower classes in terms of immense dramatic impact, technical skill, and a lead performance that embodies the attitude and conflicts of the danger at every turn. It's overlooked to say the least as far as highly charged but unsentimental indies go.

The always excellent Jeff Bridges gives one of his finest, most impressive and hard-edged performances to date as Jack Kelson, a scruffy, but basically decent ex-con who gets paroled and has trouble readjusting to civilian life. Jack gets a job washing windows, resides in a cheap crummy apartment, tries to save money so he can move to Alaska and start life afresh, and attempts to bond with his forlorn, disaffected teenage son Nick (beautifully played by Edward Furlong). Documentary filmmaker Martin Bell, working from an astute, no-nonsense script by Peter Silverman, directs his first fictional feature with a commendable blend of total assurance and steady compassion for the more downtrodden members of modern society. The strong, moving and absorbing story about redemption and urban blight thankfully eschews cloying sentiment and hokey mainstream Hollywood razzle-dazzle; in their place we instead have a rough and unsentimental tone that naturally draws poignancy from the characters and the dire situation they find themselves struggling to overcome. Bridges and Furlong are both outstanding in the leads; they receive fine support from Lucinda Jenney as Jack's sweet cabbie girlfriend Charlotte, Don Harvey as Jack's slimy old criminal partner Rainey, Tracey Kaprisky as sad teenage prostitute Molly, and Melvyn Hayward as Jack's stern, but fair parole officer Normandy. The cinematography by James R. Bagdonas nails the grimy despair of the grungy Seatle locations with exceptional vividness. James Newton Howard's spare, bluesy score and a tip-top soundtrack which includes several terrific songs by Tom Waits further add to the film's deeply affecting impact. The downbeat ending is absolutely heartbreaking. A total powerhouse.

I had seen this movie years ago, but recently I bought it and viewed it again. I knew I had liked the movie when I first saw it, but this time around I loved it. It is a great drama movie with a great Father/Son relationship story. Edward Furlong is really great in this film. He plays the role the way a role like this should be played. I would recommend this movie to others who enjoy a good story and a good drama. I thought the ending was sad and personally would have enjoyed a happier ending. Great movie! Kristin

Yes, for me anyway, this movie was truly hard to like. That's because, being from Seattle, I found it at times painful to watch such a story (set in my beautiful native city that I love so much) that so uncompromisingly focuses on a decidedly meaner and uglier side of life (no, you'll see no mention of Bill Gates, Microsoft, Boeing, Nordstroms, or Starbucks coffee in this movie!). But eventually (after several viewings) I concluded that the postcard settings of the movie only help add to the symbolic texture of the story: beautiful, picturesque cities don't necessarily beautiful lives make.Stated plainly, this is a powerful drama that tells a powerful story: Jack (Jeff Bridges), just released from prison, ends up in Seattle, where he must fight like hell to find work and keep his own life straight and together (he is, afterall, being monitored by a parole officer)... and by the way, he also has an adolescent son (nicely portrayed by Edward Furlong) who shows up to live with him - a son who is desperately in need of parental guidance, caretaking, and some semblance of a positive role model for a father. Complications ensue, as they say... The story is told with genuinely fine, heartfelt acting from all involved. Maybe it's just that it was filmed in my native city, or maybe it's just that it stands on its own merits, I don't know, but I found this movie to be pretty powerful stuff: it really got to me! This is easily one of the best dramas I've seen in a long time (another drama that I recently saw and was greatly moved by was "Vampire's Kiss" with Nicolas Cage). The ending of American Heart seems perhaps a little contrived, almost as if it came straight out of some Greek tragedy. And yet somehow I appreciate the fact that the ending is decidedly *not* a happy, "Hollywood" one, instead it seems so fitting and appropriate a denouement of all that has just transpired in the film. Watch the movie, I don't think you'll disagree.I know I risk being thought a nitpicker by even mentioning this, but, being from Seattle I couldn't help but notice that there seem to be some things in the movie that aren't quite "correct", at least from an actual Seattle setting... well, okay, let's just say they embellished the story with a few "surreal" elements: the gang of brightly costumed street kids seems a bit contrived, as does the bar scene where Jack puts the make on the taxicab lady (these seem more Hollywood than Seattle. Also, kids don't hang out in the streets here all that much. It rains too damned much!). And I noticed here and there that they take some "indecent liberties" with facts of Seattle geography. An example: in one scene, Jack is seen leaving his apartment in the Queen Anne Hill area (northwest of downtown Seattle) and hopping on a bicycle, and then, after what appears to be just minutes later, is shown casually hanging out on a wharf with a fantastic, east-looking view of the skyline of Seattle. Really, to achieve such a vantage point, he would had to have pedaled his bike to somewhere out in Eliot Bay, or perhaps over to Duwamish Head (a considerable distance away)... again, either geographically impossible, given the layout of the Seattle harbor, or chronologically impossible, given the time limitations of the filmed sequence. There are other little areas in the film where Seattle gets "bent and stretched". I won't list them, instead (as a fun little exercise in sleuthing) urge all of you who are from Seattle, or who have spent some time here, to watch this movie and really look at things carefully and ask yourself "is that real, or is that the magic of film editing?" Again, this is only just for fun, I don't at all mean to be nitpicking the movie, because the story itself is far more important than the actual setting. And as the previous commenter noted, the basic story could happen anywhere... which, in itself, is part of the powerful statement of the movie.