How sad is this?

Excellent adaptation.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This film is about a bitter bar owner who insults everyone he sees. He encounters a homeless young man with a good nature, and takes him as his apprentice in the bar."The Good Heart" is filmed artistically. The mostly dark colour scheme, and the old and bleak sets augment the film's dismal atmosphere. The story follows a predictable pattern, as two individuals with vastly different personalities collide, they change each other. Brian Cox puts on a great performance as a character who is bitter and cold. Paul Dano's character is very good natured to the point that he is vulnerable to exploitation. He has the good heart, which I did not imagine it to have a literal meaning. However, the slow pacing and the overly bleak atmosphere hurt the enjoyment factor. If this story was filmed as a light hearted comedy, it would have worked better.

Brilliantly dark and hilarious. Shot in a bar in Reicuvic, Iceland by the director of Noi Albinoi, and the two brilliant actors from the mesmerising L.I.E. With a brilliant performance from Brian Cox.The director has the way of putting his own Icelandic feel to this movie with its very greenish feel in the artistic shots. which were shot in New York and a mocked-up bar in Reicuvic.Totally brilliant humour throughout mixed with the serious moody Brian Cox and upbeat Paul Dano, merges together once again to give a good mix.Definitely the best thing I have seen in the 2010 EIFF, and one I recommend for all to see.

Brian Cox & Paul Dano are a remarkable pairing in a film that doesn't really accomplish much, but somehow remains okay. Jacques, a bitter bartender looking for someone to carry on his legacy stumbles upon Lucas, a homeless young adult who is hopelessly giving. The pairing between the two is what allows the film to float above complete disaster, as their on screen chemistry elevates the otherwise nonexistent storyline to a level slightly beyond entriguing. As Jacques determines to break the kid and turn him into a "proper bartender", one who does not help people but destroys them, he finds a kid unwilling to bend in his giving ways. This changes Jacques, but the seeds of contempt Jacques has planted within Lucas in his "lessons of life" rub a lot deeper. This movie would've easily gotten an 8 had it ended about 5 minutes earlier. I must say that there was a scene in the beginning where I knew exactly what would happen at the end of the film, and this not only cripples any film revolving around this as a plot device, it destroys the very purpose of the entire piece. The only reason to watch this film is Brian Cox & Paul Dano's amazing on screen chemistry, and that alone places this film slightly above palatable.

After making such a great debut film Noi Albino, and following that up with the fairly enjoyable Dark Horse, it pains me to tell you that The Good Heart is a real let down. Apart from it's look I can't pick out any other positives. It's puzzling to know why the director decided to make this film in English, apart from maybe a greater chance at financial success, as the story and characters have no relevance to their surroundings. It's nauseatingly quirky, desperately predictable and me and my friends were extremely disappointed.I plead to Dagur Kári, the director, to go back to where he knows and develop his trade. One more film like this and he will be well and truly struck off my list.