The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things (2006)
40 %
Reviews Counted: 48 Fresh: 19 Rotten:29 Average Rating: 4.9/10
Consensus:
The film aims to shock, but there is no higher reason for the parade of sordid images except to be "cool."
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Theatrical Release: Mar 10, 2006 Limited
Synopsis: Based on the novel by the mysterious and controversial JT LeRoy, Asia Argento's THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS is a penetrating look at the emotional and physical bonds between mother and son. Argento, daughter of Italian horror king Dario Argento (SUSPIRIA), directs and stars in... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Asia Argento, Jimmy Bennett, Cole Sprouse, Dylan Sprouse, Marilyn Manson
Director: Asia Argento
Screenwriter: Asia Argento, Alessandro Magania
Producer: Chris Hanley, Alain De La Mata, Brian Young, Roberta Hanley
Composer: Sonic Youth
Screenwriter: Asia Argento, Alessandro Magania
Producer: Chris Hanley, Alain De La Mata, Brian Young, Roberta Hanley
Composer: Sonic Youth
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Reviews
[The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things] has a deceptively desultory structure where no moral system or 'new daddy' seems to hold much water upon introduction, but each accumulates ideas which make an atavistic reappearance at the most inopportune of tim
Comment
09/06/06
The subject matter might be quite disturbing to some, but for those who don't mind a little child-rape with their crack-smoking, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things is well worth a look.
06/12/06
To appreciate or even tolerate the film, you must separate yourself from the characters and the material. What's unfortunate is that the movie is too well made to let you do just that.
05/25/06
Top Critic
Argento's film is arguably exploitative, but its real-life horrors are effectively authentic.
04/07/06
... shapeless, excessively lurid and often unpleasant, with Argento shamelessly vamping the white-trash junkie mother and truck-stop hooker.
04/06/06
JT LeRoy may be a scam, but Argento's scalding treatment of adults behaving badly is as real as cold French fries in a West Virginia truck stop.
04/03/06
We see the horrors of Jeremiah’s life, but there’s no opportunity to connect with the character; it’s just a litany of abuse with no meaning and no redemption.
03/28/06
Trying a bit too hard to be a modern cult classic, but it’s clear that Argento’s heart is in the right place.
03/25/06
Now the fabricated story of a boyhood that included abandonment, rape and near constant fear and humiliation is a movie. The result is unwatchable.
03/24/06
Top Critic
I don't know if the movie follows the book closely, but if it does, you kind of have to wonder how Leroy or Albert or whoever it was made such a splash in the first place.
03/24/06
Top Critic
[H]as a sucker-punch power more potent that what most movies specifically designed as 'horror' can muster...
03/23/06
[Argento's] fast-moving, devil-may-care filmmaking keeps The Heart Is Deceitful dangling just above its relentlessly harrowing subject matter.
03/23/06
The story conveys so much emotion that I found myself wanting to yell at the screen, "Leave that boy alone!"
03/23/06
Argento has made a ferocious film including her own committed performance, but like her character, she loses control in the final goings.
03/20/06
It's a taxing bit of exploitation, which, although you're glad to know it's a work of fiction, doesn't exactly make a case for itself as art.
03/18/06
Top Critic
At best, this film raises an all-too-relevant question: Are true-life stories interesting because they're true? Or because they're interesting? At worst, it raises a different question: What if they're neither true nor interesting?
03/18/06
Top Critic
There is no redemption, no surcease, and as the film ends the barbarity continues. This film made me intensely uncomfortable, but that was its intention.
03/18/06
Top CriticPictures
Trailers & Clips
"Jeremiah Preaches"
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News
Weinsteins Set To Make "Deceitful" Author J.T. LeRoy Biopic
posted by Jen Yamato March 02, 2006
There's almost a week to go before Asia Argento's "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things" opens, so it's...
posted by Jen Yamato March 02, 2006
There's almost a week to go before Asia Argento's "The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things" opens, so it's...
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• The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things at IGN
• The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things at AskMen
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