''Lonely Hearts'' is a 2006 American film directed and written by Todd Robinson. It is a

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

based on the true story of the notorious " Lonely Hearts Killers" spree killing of the 1940s, Martha Beck and Raymond Fernandez. The story of Beck and Fernandez was also the subject of the 1970 film ''

The Honeymoon Killers ''The Honeymoon Killers'' is a 1970 American crime film written and directed by Leonard Kastle, and starring Shirley Stoler and Tony Lo Bianco. Its plot follows a sullen, overweight nurse who is seduced by a con man, with whom she embarks on a ...

'', directed by

Leonard Kastle Leonard Gregory Kastle (February 11, 1929 – May 18, 2011)
from the University at AlbanyDeep Crimson ''Deep Crimson'' ( es, Profundo Carmesí) is a 1996 Mexican crime film directed by Arturo Ripstein, written by Paz Alicia Garciadiego and starring Regina Orozco and Daniel Giménez Cacho. Like ''The Honeymoon Killers'' before it, the film is a dra ...

'', directed by

Arturo Ripstein Arturo Ripstein y Rosen (born December 13, 1943) is a Mexican film director and screenwriter. Considered the "Godfather of independent Mexican cinema", Ripstein's work is generally characterized by "somber, slow-paced, macabre melodramas tackling ...

Plot

Conman A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have def ...

Raymond Fernandez (

Jared Leto Jared Joseph Leto ( ; born December 26, 1971) is an American actor and musician. Known for his method acting in a variety of roles, he has received numerous accolades over a career spanning three decades, including an Academy Award and a Golde ...

) defrauds rich women through

personal ads A personal advertisement, sometimes called a contact ad, is a form of classified advertising in which a person seeks to find another person for friendship, romance, marriage, or sexual activity. In British English, it is commonly known as an adv ...

, and meets Martha Beck (

Salma Hayek Salma Hayek Pinault ( , ; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela ''Teresa'' (1989–1991) as well as the ...

) who joins Raymond in his schemes, posing as his sister. They begin traveling the country, murdering over a dozen women who respond to their ads. Homicide detectives Robinson (

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (19 ...

) and Hildebrandt (

James Gandolfini James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. For his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'', he won three Emmy Awards, five Scree ...

) track them down and bring them to justice.

Cast

Development and production

Filming began on March 21, 2005, with the majority of shooting taking place on location in and around historic venues in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. Portions were filmed in the historic

Springfield Springfield may refer to: * Springfield (toponym), the place name in general Places and locations Australia * Springfield, New South Wales (Central Coast) * Springfield, New South Wales (Snowy Monaro Regional Council) * Springfield, Queenslan ...

district north of Downtown. The scene of the bungalow court was filmed at "Dancey Terrace" (Redell Street) which was at the time vacant but is now being restored. Additional shooting occurred in nearby Fernandina and

Amelia Island Amelia Island is a part of the Sea Islands chain that stretches along the East Coast of the United States from South Carolina to Florida; it is the southernmost of the Sea Islands, and the northernmost of the barrier islands on Florida's Atlantic ...

. Several scenes were shot in the Davenport Hotel in

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Canada ...

. Shots of the famous fireplace and Peacock Lounge can be seen in the background. Jacksonville competed with

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

and

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

, and the state of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

for the film. The film crew consisted of 218 local technicians, actors, and actresses, and 833 extras who generated a $3.28 million influx to the region.

Release

''Lonely Hearts'' premiered in the U.S. at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

on April 30, 2006. Following this the film had a screening at the

Jacksonville Film Festival The Jacksonville Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Jacksonville, Florida. Founded in 2002, the festival screens in competition and out-of-competition American and international independent films. According to the '' Daily Record'', ...

on May 18, 2006. The film was given a staggered release internationally throughout the final quarter of 2006 and into 2007. ''Lonely Hearts'' was scheduled to be given a

limited release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...

by Roadside Attractions in the U.S. on April 13, 2007. It was available to watch on Clickstar on-demand shortly after its domestic release.

Reception

The film earned $188,565 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and $2,330,589 in the rest of the world, for a combined gross of $2,519,154. Critical reaction was mixed. On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a 47% approval rating from 43 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "Several genres and plotlines intertwine in ''Lonely Hearts'' but don't connect, creating an uneven and unsatisfying film."

Home media

The Region One

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

was released by

Sony , commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professional ...

on July 31, 2007, although it was available for rental in several countries since late 2006.

References

External links

Official website

''Lonely Hearts'' trailer
* *

* {{Todd Robinson 2006 films Nu Image films American serial killer films Crime films based on actual events Films shot in Jacksonville, Florida Films set in the 1940s MoviePass Films films Roadside Attractions films American neo-noir films Films scored by Mychael Danna Films directed by Todd Robinson (film director) 2000s English-language films Films produced by Boaz Davidson 2000s American films