Disapointment

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Janeane Garofalo stars in this movie as a young woman who answers a personal ad in the paper as a sort of 'last chance'. She meets the man at a café but doesn't tell him who she is right away making for some light hearted fun before things get really interesting. That's already more info than you need. Janeane Garofalo does an amazing job in this movie! This is the best I've ever seen her. Her performance is funny, whimsy, and dark all at the same time. She shows a vulnerability here that I've never seen in her before and it fits her fine. The film has a mystery ending, one that leaves you wondering without giving you many clues and this is one of the few imperfections in this movie. This is a love/compassion search story that's better and more watchable than any that quickly come to mind.

I`ve never understood the concept of lonely hearts columns . Yeah sure we all get lonely but that`s part of the human condition . When I`m drowning in a sea of lonliness I just plug in my collection of Pink Floyd and The The tracks and pretend that Roger Waters and Matt Johnson are writing lyrics about me personally , vanity is preferable than desperation , and common sense dictates that anyone putting an ad in a lonely hearts column is gotta be desperate not to mention asthetically challenged . Have I made my point ? Good because anyone in a film who writes a reply to somebody in a lonely hearts column deserves all they get .And that`s the problem I had with SWEETHEARTS . Arliss writes a reply to Jasmine after seeing her ad . Dear oh dear , obviously cinema isn`t one of Arliss interests otherwise he`d realise he`s going to be getting himself into a whole lot of trouble . That said SWEETHEARTS isn`t one of those cliched characters from hell movies seen in the early 1990s ( Did Hollywood do a lonely heart from hell ? ) it`s a low budget independant black comedy , but that doesn`t mean it`s a good film . It`s very static , talkative and unconvincing . But worst of all it`s badly lit . I`ve heard of " dark " comedies but this is ridiculous GSHO ?

The thing about Sweethearts is that you automatically assume that a movie with Janine Garapholo called sweethearts is some sort of romantic comedy. This is in fact a very dark, drama with a few comedic elements, which looks and feels like a stage play. The only thing I can even really compare it too is Edward Albee's "A Zoo's Story." Highly recommended, but if you rent it on a first date she'll never speak to you again.

Never believe the box. I always try to tell myself that. The video box is nothing more than an extension of the publicity campaign for any movie, along with tv spots and trailers. SWEETHEARTS, a 1996 release from Trimark, is a film that got me. Interesting premise, descriptive words and phrases. The movie turned out to be just another Hollywood-concocted, coming of age "rebel" flick; and not a good one, at that. Insecure nerd (who talks to himself constantly) Arliss answers personal ad of paranoid and manic-depressant Jasmine, who is about as likeable as having boric acid thrown in your face. The so-called animosity, begrudging respect and genuine chemistry of the two, feels contrived and forced. I never bought it for for an instant. Among the cast, is the usually very funny Margaret Cho, as the cafe owner. Here she is wasted. She comes off more as a grouch, than humorous. Bob Goldthwait (as he is shown billed) contributes the only humor found in the flick, in the scene where he delivers coffee to the two leads. The rest of it bombs badly. SWEETHEARTS is anything but, and is dull, to boot. Time to test faith at the video shop, to see if that "guarantee you'll like the movie" policy is worth the paper it's written on.