good back-story, and good acting

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Blistering performances.

'Tell Tale' pays homage to one of American history's greatest horror authors, editors, and literary critics; Edgar Allan Poe. Most of us have read 'The tell-tale heart' at some point in school, and tells the tale of an unnamed narrator who slowly, and without much remorse, confesses to the murder of his employer - the man with the 'evil eye'. It was (and is) considered one of the most horrifying tales of the macabre at that point, as the speaker describes the reasons, methods, and means of murdering his master, and the madness that eventually causes him to confess.Although 'Tell Tale' is an interesting movie to watch, it is only loosely based on the original Poe story. They are completely different in every way, as this film is more of a strange, psychological ghost story. It is an interesting film nevertheless, but it bears no resemblance to Poe's famous short story.The film centers on Terry Bernard, a young father, and a man who receives a much needed heart transplant just in the nick of time. Slowly his life returns to normal, he is a man in love, and a very dutiful father... but it all begins to change rapidly when he suffers from a supernatural assault on his memory. Remembrances of a man murdered, and a life not his own.There is some really wonderful casting in this movie, especially the renowned Brian Cox, who plays a retired detective who views the whole thing so skeptically, that it's hard to understand why he would become involved until much later in the film. Josh Lucas as the lead, does a fantastic job of portraying a man who is very much being tortured, mind, body, and soul. His love interest played by Lena Heady (of Game Of Thrones fame), is a very welcome addition. Her devotion to him wavers at times due the subsequent changes in the man she loves, but she carries an immense secret throughout the movie.Overall, it's a very unique take on Poe's work, yet I would say only mildly influenced by it. It could be rather predictable at times, but it is well acted throughout.6/10

Terry Bernard (Josh Lucas) is in love with his daughter's doctor Elizabeth Clemson (Lena Headey). He had a heart transplant. He has visions from his pounding heart. He recognizes the paramedic attacking him in the vision and tries to confront him. A fight ensues and Terry accidentally kills him. He discovers the identity of the heart donor and contacts police detective Phillip Van Doren (Brian Cox) who investigated the case. He uncovers a dark conspiracy and a secret pointed right at his heart.This is suppose to be a reworking of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart". I didn't really get the reference the first time I watched it. There's a reason for that. Terry is not guilty of anything. That's the whole point of the Poe story but I guess the writer missed that. The hearts of the two stories are completely different.I love all three main actors but the story lacks intensity. The mystery of the story is never really in doubt. It's simply about the identity of the villains. It would have worked a lot better if Terry paid for the heart.

So this is a movie based on one of Edgar Allan Poe's popular short stories. Although it's not all that close to it, except the movie deals with heartbeats and murders. Josh Lucas is the main protagonist in this movie and he plays a single father raising a daughter that has an illness. But when he gets a heart transplant and meets a female doctor that he starts a relationship with, things start to change. Especially within himself. Josh Lucas is actually really good in this, in fact he sort of reminds me of an American version of Daniel Craig. The thing is the beginning interested me than the rest of the movie. The mystery of trying to figure out what is going on kinda drives this movie. But when finding out what is going on, it just basically goes in a narrow and not very interesting direction. Overall the mystery aspect of this movie is kinda interesting but the rest is just mundane.5.5/20

It wasn't awful in the Ed Wood sense of the word awful. It just draaaagged-- as if the actors had taken some very strong downers. The dialog was unintentionally funny, because it was so predictable and not too well written--plus, the lead actor who played the single dad named Terry, had this "I'm scared" look on his face throughout at least 75% of this film. For the remaining 25% of the movie, he looked like as though he was always about to burst into tears.Loosley (an understatement) based story on Poe's The Tell Tale Heart. This is a prime example of ruining a literary masterpiece of horror. Poe,(if alive)would've driven a stake through the screenwriter's heart, then buried him under the floor boards. The flick portrayed the story as kind of a horror, suspense, action mish mosh. Unfortunately, there was little of any horror, suspense or action. It had the overall feel of some "made for TV" mega flop. In the film, there was a surprise here and there, but no big deal. We've seen 'em before in other movies. Nothing seemed to gel here, it was like eating runny jello in it's early cooling stages before it firms up. It's all sloppy and difficult to get on a spoon to eat. Too frustrating and not worth the effort. Watch this movie only if you are on Quaaludes.