I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

The acting in this movie is really good.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

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.

American Heart casts Jeff Bridges in the role of a recently paroled convict who would like to make a fresh start of things. But from the gitgo he's saddled with a responsibility of his own making. His 14 year old son Edward Furlong runs away from the uncle he's been staying with and hooks up with Bridges. Sad to say but it's like they're doomed from the start. They live in an SRO hotel on Seattle's seamier side. Bridges is working as a window washer, barely making ends meet. Furlong tries to enroll in school, but the bureaucracy proves too much. He falls in with a lot of street kids including child hooker Tracey Kapisky who reminds me very much of Jodie Foster in Taxi. She's lives in the same SRO with her mother who's in the same profession and jealous of her daughter.Bridges also has a younger associate, Don Harvey who'd like to get him back in the criminal life. He's also found a bit of romance with a prison pen pal in Lucinda Jenney.American Heart is a real downer of a film, but very well done. Sad to these are very real people. But oddly enough it follows the same plot line as the Shirley Temple movie Now and Forever with Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard. Sort of like an R-rated version of it.This film is not one for those who like happy endings. Still I think it is one Jeff Bridges finest screen achievements.

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.