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Capsule summary: ‘The Good Heart’
“The Good Heart”
British thesp Brian Cox, who played Lear to lauds in the Bard’s hometown, now calls himself “an actor who does really interesting work in independent movies.” And as the churlish barkeep in Icelandic filmmaker Dagur Kari’s “The Good Heart,” the mighty Celt lets it rip.
His character Jacques is so nasty a nurse greets his fifth heart attack with: “Not again! Why don’t you just die?” But rude Jacques survives to share a hospital room with failed suicide Lucas, delicately played by Paul Dano.
“When it comes to the survival of the fittest,” Lucas says, “I have to throw in the towel.” Instead he lets Jacques take him home to carry on his “legacy” — the rundown bar he owns. It’s a far cry from Cheers, but Lucas soon learns the house rules, no walk-ins, no women and no getting chummy with regular patrons.
Enter wan stewardess April (French actress Isild LeBesco), and gruff Jacques, waiting for a new heart, and gentle Lucas, newly wed, start to change.
The bar is so murky and grim, it’s Dickensian, so dark Clint Eastwood would approve.
This is the Kari’s third feature, his first in the U.S. and English. His script has fjord-sized holes with dialogue that both clinks and zings.
The gloomy comedy, shot in New York and Iceland, may not crease your face with grins. But you will have seen some superior perfs.
Dano, last teamed with Cox in “L.I.E.” (2001), holds his own against the veteran’s bombast, and the supporting cast, down to Estragon the duck, is perfection.
8:45 p.m., Friday, Alamo Ritz
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