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List Price: $14.94 | | Label: Sony Pictures
Salesrank: 22784
Released: July 31, 2007 |
| Our Price: $3.45 |
| Used Price: $0.25 |
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MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Martha Beck (Hayek) and Raymond Fernandez (Leto) were America’s notorious "Lonely Heart Killers." Their lethal scam was simple; they would swindle and then viciously murder lovelorn war widows who would answer their proposal ads in which Ray would describe himself as a sexy Latin Lover. Ironically, Ray’s initial introduction to Martha was a prospective mark. But when they met, it was love at first sight, perhaps as a result of their passion for hot-blooded sex and cold-blooded murder. With Martha posing as Ray’s sister, they swindled elderly spinsters and widows of their savings then viciously murdered them in a bloodbath of sexual frenzy. Raymond and Martha believe they’re literally getting away with murder until homicide detectives Elmer C. Robinson (Travolta) and Charles Hildebrandt (Gandolfini) pick up their scent.
Description of Lonely Hearts:
Love 'em and leave 'em--dead. That's the unstated but unmistakable motto of the predatory duo in Lonely Hearts, an affecting entry into the neo-noir landscape, with a twist: it's based on a true story. The all-star cast is led by John Travolta as detective Elmer Robinson, a dedicated cop haunted by the unexplained suicide of his wife. Travolta and his partner, played with blue-collar bravado by James Gandolfini, are old-style gumshoes who wear their characters as believably as they do their tattered fedoras. Travolta, particularly, wears his anguish on his tweedy sleeve, and underplays what could have been a scenery-chewing role. In the cops' crosshairs: evil lovebirds Martha Beck (Salma Hayek) and Ray Fernandez (Jared Leto), who prey on single women in "lonely hearts" advertisements, bilk them of their money, and! murder them--as much as a way to prove their twisted love for each other as for the financial gain.
The film is uniformly well acted, and transports the viewer to a simpler America that nonetheless echoes modern-day internet dating and the perils that can accompany too much trust. Leto downplays his pretty-boy looks to become believable as the oily and unhinged Ray, and the gorgeous Hayek is made up to a fare-thee-well.
Director Todd Robinson is the grandson of the real-life Elmer, and did the film as an homage to the case that consumed his grandfather. The making-of featurette is in some ways even more compelling than the feature, because of the moving interviews with the younger Robinson and his memories of his grandfather, and footage and news clips of the real-life Martha and Ray. There's plenty of fodder here for true-crime fans, and anyone who wants to savor a good shudder. --A.T. Hurley
Lonely Hearts Reviews:
This film just got to me 
2008-09-16 - I left halfway because I just could not take it. My heart went out to these lonely people just looking for a bit of happiness and what these people were doing taking advantage of them. This movie just stuck too deep.
More real than not
2008-09-03 - No need to go over the story. I rented this movie and was surprised at how well it depicted men who work in law enforcement and the women who are married to them. I haven't seen Scott Caan mentioned in the other reviews, but I thought he was excellent, he could end up being a better actor than his Dad. Travolta was much better than I expected because he didn't rely on the tics and mannerisims that he uses on almost all of his other movies, the pauses between words, the statacco delivery, the playing with the cigarettes etc. Gandolfini was pretty good and I was able to separate him from Soprano even though he used the same voice. Leto and Hayak were great, hard to imagine during the movie that Leto had played Steve Prefontaine to perfection. Hayak did a great job of showing the evil in her character just by sitting next to the woman in the yard in Michigan, listening, giving the small fake smile and yet conveying that she has already decided what she is going to do to the woman. Very glad I rented this.
It was o.k. 
2008-07-02 - I was slightly disappointed with John Travolta's performance I was expecting more from him but he never came across. There where too many dead spots in this movie. Salma Hayek did very well as a psychopath but the film as a whole was sometimes very slow at spots and it performers where only decent for the most part.
Lonely Herts Review
2008-05-04 - This is a watchable film; however, in my opinion, the 1970 version seems to have more horsepower, and the main characters resembled the real-life killers more closely. Furthermore, I think in the new version too much time is dedicated to the detectives rather than to the killers.
Rated R for Retarded 
2008-02-10 - I thought maybe I had found a hidden gem. I saw the sexy Salma on the cover. The ratings box said "R" for violence, sexual content, and nudity. Then it described Salma's character as a psychopath with a passion for hot-blooded sex and cold-blooded murder!? Based on the true story of The Lonely Hearts Killers?! Yeah, I was pumped for this one. Alas, my hopes were soon shot down. In case you don't know, the Lonely Hearts Killers were a couple of mismatched lovers that victimized many rich lonely widows. This movie drifts pretty far from the true story. It spends too much time with the police work on the case, instead of more focus on the sex and murders. The twisted mentality of the killers isn't exposed very well. And worst of all, no revealing shots of Salma. Trust me, there is a good reason you haven't heard much about this. My one star rating is harsh, it might not be quite that horrible. But instead of wasting your time with this, pick up the Criterion version, The Honeymoon Killers.
