Hearts in Atlantis - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Hearts in Atlantis or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Hearts in Atlantis

[camila]

Sir Anthony Hopkins discussed psychic ability and synchronicity with Director Scott Hicks in an interview included on the DVD. In that exchange, he tells how he had been in Florence, filming Hannibal (2001), and reading a non-fiction book by William Goldman. In the book, Goldman discussed previously working with Hopkins, and discussed Kathy Bates in Misery (1990). Hopkins recalled thinking that it would be interesting to work with Goldman again, and it would be interesting to work on a Stephen King story. Two days later, a call came that there was a script for him to read, by Goldman, based on a King story. Hopkins accepted immediately.

[claude]

Sir Anthony Hopkins and Hope Davis appeared in Proof (2005).

[ronnie]

The obituary that Bobby reads for John "Sully" Sullivan, says that he was killed in a traffic pile-up. This is also how he died in the book, and the circumstances of his death are given in the short story, "Why We're in Vietnam".

[bernard]

Jeremy Sumpter was originally considered for the role of Bobby Garfield.

[edgar]

Director Scott Hicks mentioned (commentary at 01:31:46) that the "11" on the window after the flashback ends, was meant to tell the viewer that Bobby Garfield recalled the entire flashback in only eleven seconds of real-time, before the condensation on the window evaporated.

[kenzi]

When Bobby (Anton Yelchin) encounters Harry Doolin (Timothy Reifsnyder) after Carol Gerber (Mika Boorem) has been assaulted, Director Scott Hicks mentioned (commentary at 01:27:16) that in the novel and the screenplay, it is a premeditated assault by Bobby, who ambushes Harry and beats him up. But Scott Hicks felt the audience would lose sympathy for Bobby unless, instead of being planned, it was self-defense in some way.

[jesus]

Novelist and Oscar-winning Screenwriter William Goldman, who in 1990 adapted Stephen King's "Misery" (1987) to universal acclaim, after reading King's new book "Hearts In Atlantis" (1999), quickly signed on to adapt it for the big screen.

[norma]

To Director Scott Hicks, this movie's "Atlantis" is the lost domain of childhood (commentary at 32:53), which isn't at all the symbolism evoked in readers of Stephen King's book "Hearts in Atlantis", where the second story, also titled "Hearts in Atlantis", concerns students, attending college as a sanctuary to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War, becoming addicted to the card game called "hearts".

[kenzi]

The name "Ted Brautigan" is possibly a reference to two authors from the 1960s counterculture: Ted Berrigan and Richard Brautigan.

[dustin]

Scott Hicks notes that a real moth appears at a porch light at 12:09 when Bobby first talks with Ted, but at 12:18 and 12:26, digital moths are shown as part of several things done to make the scene appear more realistic, even though it was shot on a set, due to the restrictions Anton Yelchin's age imposed on his participation in night shooting. Despite using a moth wrangler (not specifically cited in the credits), only one real moth made it into this movie.

[eli]

The paper boy shown from 01:07:27 to 01:07:38, is the same boy who was in the bike shop, from 52:06 to 52:45, with his dad, looking to buy the Schwinn bike Bobby wanted, but now using his new bike to deliver his papers. Director Scott Hicks indicated (commentary at 01:07:31) that he didn't expect viewers to pick up on that detail.

[eli]

In the scene on the porch, where Bobby first reads the newspaper to Ted, who asks him "Have you kissed her (Carol Gerber (Mika Boorem)) yet?", Director Scott Hicks points out (commentary at 24:29) that the shot at the end of the scene, a close-up of Bobby over Ted's shoulder in which Sir Anthony Hopkins ad-libbed the line "But you will kiss her?" was included during editing, because of Anton Yelchin's response: a glance up with wide eyes with his right eye quickly narrowing to a glare (at around twenty-four minutes).

[jim]

Ted mentions the Library Policemen. This is the title of another story by Stephen King, from the anthology "Four Past Midnight".

[lonnie]

Theatrical movie debut of Anton Yelchin (Bobby Garfield).

[ray]

Director Scott Hicks said that one of the hardest things of all was to get Anton Yelchin (Bobby) to laugh in the scene where Sir Anthony Hopkins (Ted) imitates a fart (commentary at 14:55). Anton was raised in an atmosphere where laughing with an open mouth was impolite, so it was not natural for him to do so, even when, during Anton's close-up of the shot, Hopkins barked like a dog. Anton was not enjoined from grinning, such as from 48:41 to 48:42 where, in an "off-camera" moment, the camera caught him grinning after Scott had said "cut", and the filmmakers liked the effect.

[ken]

The reconciliation between Bobby and his mother in this movie, is far different from the novel, where Bobby grows into a juvenile delinquent. Director Scott Hicks noted (commentary at 01:29:31) that this is an example of the reinterpretation of characters that cinema demands.

[sandra]

This is the only movie or television series based on a story by Stephen King with no on-screen deaths. Although two characters die between the flashbacks and the frame story, these deaths are not shown on-screen.

[ruby]

The book "Hearts in Atlantis" is actually a collection of five stories (in order, "Low Men in Yellow Coats", "Hearts in Atlantis", "Blind Willie", "Why We're in Vietnam", and "Heavenly Shades of Night Are Falling"), across different time eras with different characters. Director Scott Hicks noted (commentary at 29:31) that Screenwriter William Goldman had taken quite a few liberties with the material, to narrow its scope and focus. Since the first and last stories were the only two in which Bobby appeared, but were forty years apart in time, Goldman used the first story as a flashback, bookended between two parts of the last story, and discarded the other three stories.

[sylvia]

Screenwriter William Goldman, who was currently adapting Stephen King's best selling science fiction epic Dreamcatcher (2003), said of this movie's source novel: "I was so moved by it. I love King most when he's not dealing with monsters, but dealing with human monsters. The thing that most moves me in 'Hearts' is Bobby, Carol, and Ted, all that stuff they're dealing with trying to get through their lives. It is just so moving and beautifully done. He has a brilliant narrative mind."