RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Check out the new RT Community
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | In Theaters
  • | Opening
  • | Upcoming
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / Upcoming / Ghosts of the Heartland
Ghosts of the Heartland

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Showtimes & Tickets
  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Ghosts of the Heartland (2009)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
20 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:5

Fresh:1

Rotten:4

Average Rating:4/10

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 80 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:May 22, 2009 Limited

Synopsis: It is the summer of 1952. We are at war with China and Chinese Americans are ill at ease, as they know what happened to Japanese Americans a few years before. As the 'red scare' of the McCarthy... It is the summer of 1952. We are at war with China and Chinese Americans are ill at ease, as they know what happened to Japanese Americans a few years before. As the 'red scare' of the McCarthy era gains momentum, people are worried and they don't feel safe. As this oppressive atmosphere permeates the country, Chinese American reporter, Roland Lu, returns to his hometown of Millville. Things are not as he remembers. Millville is now a scary place.

As Roland strolls down Main Street on his first night in town, a Chinese man shoots himself in front of city hall. Roland smells a story and seems a lot more concerned about that story than he is about the dead man. He soon learns that below the surface, Millville is full of interracial relationships that could tear the lid off the town. Roland also learns the Chinese are gradually being fired from their jobs.

Roland suspects that his old nemesis, Mayor Frank Dugan, is plotting to take the Chinese' property from them... Why? Frank is a bully, a thief, a McCarthyite thug, the editor of the Millville Chronicle and the mayor of the town. The only thing Frank hates more than communists is Chinese reporters.

To add to his problems, Roland’s old girl friend, Liz, thinks Roland wants to be a success, so he can be accepted into white society. She fears that Roland will sell out her family and all of the Chinese for a shot at the Pulitzer. --© Official Site [More]

Starring: Phil Moon, Michael Santoro, Rachel Lu, Marcus Ho

Starring: Phil Moon, Michael Santoro, Rachel Lu, Marcus Ho, Bill Cain, Rosanne Ma, James Saito, Michelle Peters, Karen Tsen Lee, Jamie McAllister, David Midthunder, Kelly Aucoin, Jeff Jerome

Director: Allen Blumberg

Director: Allen Blumberg
Producer: Allen Blumberg
Composer: Tom Hiel

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 2 of 2

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for Ghosts of the Heartland

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
 
 
1 - 5 (sorted by date)
Bubble View
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
tomato
6.0/10

Avi Offer

Despite some forgivably mediocre performances,...[it's] a visually stylish noir film that's often intriguing, suspenseful and provocative.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 25 2009 12:59 AM

NYC Movie Guru

splat
2/4

Lou Lumenick

Except for Santoro, the acting and the movie itself lack much of a sense of urgency. But it gets the look right on a microscopic budget, and its heart is in the right place.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 22 2009 12:42 PM

New York Post

splat
2.5/5

Jeannette Catsoulis

Might have been more effective with a little more honey and a lot less vinegar.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 22 2009 03:15 AM

New York Times

splat
1/6

Karina Longworth

The ambience may be right, but the film lacks what makes actual midcentury middle-American noir so effective: subtext.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 20 2009 01:06 PM

Time Out New York

splat

Vadim Rizov

Blumberg's point is that racism was/is bad -- hard to argue with that. It's equally hard to argue that the classic noirs would've been better off had they taken frequent time-outs for lectures on racial justice.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 19 2009 05:46 PM

Village Voice

 
 
1 - 5 (sorted by date)
Bubble View
all

Latest News for Ghosts of the Heartland

May 10, 2009: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

See All

More Movies

Close
Coming Soon
Tomatometer Percentage Movie Date

More…

100% 100% Daybreakers 1/8
83% 83% Youth in Revolt 1/8
— The Book of Eli 1/15
— The Spy Next Door 1/15
See All

RT On Current TV

The Rotten Tomatoes Show on Current TV

DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...

Learn how you can be part of the show

More...

What’s Hot On RT

Critics' Best & Worst

Critics' Best & Worst

RT's critic friends offer their choices

Total Recall

Total Recall

We list 10 New Year's Eve-themed films!

Awards Tour

Awards Tour

Stay up on the latest awards and noms!

Forever After

Forever After

Celebrate Shrek's return with this trailer!

Other News

Close
  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Harold Ramis Discusses Filmography, Teases Ghostbusters 3 Source: Heeb Magazine
0
  • National Film Registry Adds 2009 Selections Source: Hollywood Reporter
0
  • New Moon Tops Moviefone's 2009 List Source: Hollywood Reporter
25
  • Star Trek Tops 2009's Most-Pirated Movies List Source: Hollywood Reporter
19
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
111
  • New Toy Story 3 Clip, Photos Posted Source: Slashfilm
26
  • Danny Trejo Talks Machete, Possible Sequels Source: Collider.com
14
  • It's Official: Jackass 3-D Coming in 2010 Source: Collider.com
16
  • Bryan Singer Returning to X-Men for First Class Source: Superhero Hype
102
  • Mark Strong Talks Kick-Ass, John Carter, and Robin Hood Source: Collider.com
1
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: Avatar, Sherlock, and Alvin Team Up To Break Records
331
  • RT's Best of the Decade!
185
  • RT Editors Choose Their Favorite Films of 2009!
105
  • Critics Choose Must-Sees and Worsts of 2009
69
  • Weekly Ketchup: Peter Jackson's Secret Sci-Fi Project
37
  • Critics Consensus: Sherlock Holmes Is Worth Investigating
34
  • RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: 9 and Paranormal Activity
28
  • Total Recall: New Year's Eve Movies
17
  • Friday Harvest: Sherlock Holmes, Toy Story 3, and more!
10
  • What We're Watching on Blu-ray from 20th Century Fox!
1
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Five Favorite Films With Peter Jackson
72
  • Robert Downey Jr. talks Sherlock Holmes & Iron Man 2 - RT Interview
21
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
24
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
16
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
24
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Ghosts of the Heartland at Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh Links

Featured
Best Dozen of the Decade
Best Dozen of the Decade External Link

Last week, MSN gave us their top 09 films. Now see what their favorites of the decade are!

Top 50 of 2009
Top 50 of 2009 External Link

Here's a list of the 50 best movies of 2009, according to the good people over at Moviefone.

Santa's Naughty List
Santa's Naughty List External Link

Hollywood.com takes a stab at determining who in movies will be on Santa's naughty list in 2009.

Top 10 Movies of 2009
Top 10 Movies of 2009 External Link

TIME chimes in with their own list of the best films released this year.

Top 20 of the Decade
Top 20 of the Decade External Link

Click through to see which movies BuzzSugar placed in their Best-of-Decade list!

Promos
Follow RT on Twitter
Follow RT on Twitter External Link

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Games| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo
About Us | Advertise | Contact Us | Press | Careers
IGN | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | Direct2Drive | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Game Sites | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GIGA.DE | What They Play | Battlefield Heroes
By continuing past this page, and by your continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. | Support | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! RSS Feeds
IGN’s enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA.
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.