Category Archives: Todd Robinson

Lonely Hearts (2006)

From NetFlix:

In this unnerving docudrama, John Travolta and James Gandolfini play homicide detectives assigned to pursue lovers Martha Beck (Salma Hayek) and Raymond Fernandez (Jared Leto) — dubbed the “Lonely Hearts Killers.” Luring unwary war widows and spinsters through personal ads in the late 1940s, the couple stripped respondents of their savings before slaying them in a sexually charged frenzy. The supporting cast includes Laura Dern and Scott Caan.

Well worth seeing, this film is violent and could be hard to watch if only because there is a very explicit execution by electric chair (which you know immediately at the start of the film). Children not invited to watch because of the grisly shootings, the explicit sex, and the coarse sexual banter of the police officers.

Over the years I have seen John Travolta become a fat actor playing himself. In this case his face has changed so much (no, it is not makeup) that I almost did not recognize the face, although the body type has not changed. In all fairness, he does an excellent and sullen job as a man wounded by and unable to recover from his wife’s suicide. James Gandolfini is not just Tony Soprano and can, in fact, act well in certain kinds of roles including this role as Travolta’s sidekick.

Salma Hayek throughout the film is drop-dead gorgeous, especially when she is dolled-up in a smart black outfit plus big hat plus decolletage. She plays a wonderful sociopath right down to her never-give-in demise.

Not bad at all!