One From The Heart Review

• 31st Oct 2011

Now there I was hoping One From the Heart would be an all singing, all dancing quirky little number dealing with relationship breakdowns with typically Copolla-esque verve and soul. Unfortunately what ensued was little more than a bland, occasionally over-excited (yes you can be both at once!) over-exaggerated soap opera.

Starring Teri Garr (of Tootsie fame) as in-and-out-of-love Frannie and Frederic Forrest as her long suffering boyfriend Hank, the story sees the two of them parting company on the eve of their fifth anniversary to sample the exotic delights and bright lights of Las Vegas. After some wise-cracking advice from their respective larger than life friends, the two of them meet their ‘true’ loves and it looks like their old flame has died for good when Frannie sets out to board a plane with her new beau Ray (Raul Julia). A clichéd airport chase ensues and of course Frannie soon comes running back into the arms of her doting everyman and roll credits.

There are a few nice sequences towards the end of the film, including a quirky tango between Ray and Frannie and a surreal performance from Hank and his sexy circus lover but a couple of hours after watching this film I’m doing well to remember any particularly stand-out lines or scenes. Perhaps the biggest downfall of this film is its predictable ‘kiss and make up’ ending. Perhaps if Copolla had been slightly more courageous (and that’s not a criticism I’ll lay on Copolla very often at all!) Frannie and Hank might let sleeping dogs lie and found true happiness within themselves. So this is less One from the Heart and more one from the back catalogues.

Dani Singer