Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

The Film is a fine character study of a Father/Son relationship from the dark side that is more hopeful than one would expect from the despair surrounding this rough but realistic re-bonding. Everyone on screen is believable and the two leads are impressive and surrounded by characters and scenery that is streetwise. It is Jeff Bridges' powerfully laid-back anger and unrelenting belief that he can escape this entrapment and maybe provide some guidance and hope despite the odds. His son is mostly incapable of resisting the obvious temptations of his environment, girlfriends, drugs, and the need to get some money.The Movie is quite engrossing despite its low-budget and downbeat story and is rendered remarkably restrained and never boring. It also resists trying to be too clever or too condescending. This is quite an achievement and deserving of more attention from those seeking something down to earth. This one is all the way down to street level and never, surprisingly, descends to the gutter.

Martin Bell directed "Streetwise" in the 1980s, a powerful documentary which chartered the lives of various kids and teenagers living rough on the streets of Seattle. Bell attempts to capture a similar tone with 1992's "American Heart", the story of a recently released convict (Jeff Bridges) who finds himself pursued by his needy, 12 year old son (Edward Furlong). The film watches as the duo roam the streets of Seattle, struggling to makes ends meet, keep out of trouble and hold down jobs. Some of its more powerful moments involve Bridges abandoning his son, or flashing moments of disturbing selfishness (he steals the kid's bed). Unfortunately the film as a whole eventually descends into cliché and melodramatic contrivances.Unlike "Streetwise", "American Heart's" tone is a kind of false, manufactured grittiness. The poor, and real poverty, do not behave, act, talk and feel like this. "Heart's" characters are too self-aware, too introspective , the plot's too sentimental, too structured, too manufactured, conveying a kind of imitative neo-realism, rather than something more authentic. This material needs to be handled in either an abstract/ stylised manner, as a literal documentary, or via the sanctified minimalism of a De Sica or Visconti (or the recently released "Wendy and Lucy"). Conventional neo-realism – which the French, Italians and British did in the 40s, 50s and 60s - does not, and can not, work five decades after the neo-realist movement. It simply rings false. Documentary film has changed what we expect from cinema verite, as Bell himself shows in "Streetwise".The film ends with Bridges dying and Furlong being abandoned, America's youths once again adrift. Throughout the film, Bell paints the American Dream as a literal, dead, frozen wasteland.7.5/10 - Dated. Worth one viewing.

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

I have to admit being somewhat biased toward this film, as I was living in the apartment building (at the time) where most of the filming took place! The rent was $225/month if I remember correctly, and it was indeed a "studio"... complete with bare bulb hanging from the ceiling and a lot of roaches :-) (the room used in the movie was somewhat nastier than the one I was in - there was a top floor, a middle and a basement, and I was living in one of the middle floor rooms at the time). But I got to see a great deal of the process of filming a movie (extremely interesting and educational) as well as meeting Jeff Bridges and Edward Furlong (no, I don't appear anywhere in the film as either an extra or an actor). As for the movie itself, it turned out quite a bit better than I had expected. Martin Bell is underrated as a director, and it's unfortunate that lately he's concentrated on TV rather than movies - he really is talented (See "Streetwise," 1984). The ending of American Heart really was sad, although we've seen it before in a lot of movies. Yet another reflection on the sad state of today's society.And now, a small revelation... in the movie, the apartment where "Jack" and his son lived was portrayed as being on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. Actually, the building used in filming was on Capitol Hill, a few blocks west of Broadway. No, I'm not going to give away the street address or the name of the apartments, sorry :-).My overall review for "American Heart" - 9/10.