Rotten
The movie's two bright spots are Cox and Dano, who perform excellently despite the dull inevitabilities the script forces on them.
Ian Buckwalter, NPR
The Good Heart
Everyone needs a refuge from the world.
2009 · 1h 35m · R
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Directed by
Dagur Kári
Free account saves your watchlist and ratings.
The Good Heart
Overview
Jacques is the curmudgeonly owner of a gritty New York dive bar that serves as home to a motley assortment of professional drinkers. Jacques is determinedly drinking and smoking himself to death when he meets Lucas, a homeless young man who has already given up on life. Determined to keep his legacy alive, Jacques deems Lucas is a fitting heir and takes him under his wing.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
32%
Tomatometer
Rotten
Cox doesn't so much chew the scenery as inhale it. Dano looks on in awe. Who can blame him? For that matter, who can blame Cox?
Mark Feeney, Boston Globe
Rotten
This odd couple never moves beyond oddness and the lower-depths shenanigans grate.
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor
Rotten
It's a strange thing, this type of whimsy. Kari offers us ideas in place of characters, and yet he expects us to see through these ideas to the real-life conditions they represent -- and then to respond to them in kind.
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Fresh
Cox makes his reanimation a believable, joyful change of heart, rather than a labored bit of plot manipulation. He seems ennobled, not merely sentimentalized.
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
More films
Voicemails for Isabelle (2026)
Comedy · Drama · Romance · TV-14
A young woman's hilariously confessional voicemails to her late sister are unknowingly redirected to a stranger, who begins to fall in love from afar.
- Runtime
- 1h 59m
- Director
- Leah McKendrick
- Cast
- Zoey Deutch, Nick Robinson, Harry Shum Jr.
IMDb
7.3
Rotten Tomatoes
88%
Metacritic
62
Our Friend (2019)
Drama · Romance · R
After learning that his terminally ill wife has six months to live, a man welcomes the support of his best friend who moves into their home to help out.
- Runtime
- 2h 4m
- Cast
- Dakota Johnson, Casey Affleck, Jason Segel
IMDb
7.3
Rotten Tomatoes
85%
Metacritic
57
St. Elmo's Fire (1985)
Comedy · Drama · Romance · R
Reluctant to let go of college life, a close-knit team of seven friends--irresponsible saxophone player Billy, young Republican Alec, his girlfriend Leslie, struggling journalist Kevin, drama queen Jules, lovesick waiter Kirby, and Wendy, a social worker with a heart of gold--realise the party is over. And as the burdens of maturity cl...
- Runtime
- 1h 48m
- Director
- Joel Schumacher
- Cast
- Andrew McCarthy, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe
IMDb
6.4
Rotten Tomatoes
43%
Metacritic
35
Henry Poole Is Here (2008)
Comedy · Drama · PG
Henry Poole abandons his fiancée and family business to spend what he believes are his remaining days alone. The discovery of a 'miracle' by a nosy neighbor ruptures his solitude and restores his faith in life.
- Runtime
- 1h 39m
- Director
- Mark Pellington
- Cast
- Luke Wilson, George López, Radha Mitchell
IMDb
6.4
Rotten Tomatoes
39%
Metacritic
44
House of D (2004)
Comedy · Drama · PG-13
In the present, artist Tom Warshaw recalls his traumatic coming of age. As a 13-year-old growing up in New York City in 1973, Tom hangs out with Pappass, a mentally disabled man. With Tom's mother battling depression after the death of her husband, the young boy is left to his own devices. When Tom develops a crush on schoolmate Meliss...
- Runtime
- 1h 37m
- Director
- David Duchovny
- Cast
- Anton Yelchin, Téa Leoni, Robin Williams
IMDb
6.8
Rotten Tomatoes
10%
Metacritic
33
I Served the King of England (2007)
Comedy · R
Prague, Czechoslovakia, during the inter-war period. Jan Dítě, a young and clever waiter who wants to become a millionaire, comes to the conclusion that to achieve his ambitious goal he must be diligent, listen and observe as much as he can, be always discreet and use what he learns to his own advantage; but the turbulent tides of hist...
- Runtime
- 1h 55m
- Director
- Jiří Menzel
- Cast
- Ivan Barnev, Oldřich Kaiser, Julia Jentsch
IMDb
7.3
Rotten Tomatoes
79%
Metacritic
72
My Sweet Little Village (1985)
Comedy · PG
The movie's main storyline follows the life of Otík, a young man, in a tight-knit village community. The sweet-tempered Otík works as an assistant truck driver with Mr. Pávek, his older colleague and practical-minded neighbor. Pávek's family takes care of Otík, whose parents are dead. However, the two coworkers become at odds over Otík...
- Runtime
- 1h 38m
- Director
- Jiří Menzel
- Cast
- János Bán, Marián Labuda, Zdeněk Svěrák
IMDb
7.8
Rotten Tomatoes
80%
Larks on a String (1990)
Comedy · Drama · Romance · N/A
In post-WWII Communist Czechoslovakia, several characters considered bourgeois are sentenced to work in a junkyard for rehabilitation. Among them is a young man who pines for a female convict.
- Runtime
- 1h 34m
- Director
- Jiří Menzel
- Cast
- Rudolf Hrušínský, Václav Neckář, Jitka Zelenohorská
IMDb
7.3
Cutting It Short (1981)
Comedy · N/A
Francin, manager of a small-town brewery, has a charming wife whose abundant blonde locks are an adornment to the town. Maryska looks ethereal but loves meat and beer, while Francin is an ascetic. The strict members of the brewery board of directors come to audit the accounts, but are diverted from concentrating on Francin's detailed r...
- Runtime
- 1h 33m
- Director
- Jiří Menzel
- Cast
- Magda Vášáryová, Rudolf Hrušínský, Petr Čepek
IMDb
8.0
The Snowdrop Festival (1984)
Comedy · Drama · N/A
An episodic film about the inhabitants of Kersko, their hardships and their joys, most prominently hunting. A lyrical and humorous adaptation of writings by Bohumil Hrabal.
- Runtime
- 1h 23m
- Director
- Jiří Menzel
- Cast
- Rudolf Hrušínský, Jaromír Hanzlík, Josef Somr
IMDb
7.5
Comments
Talk about the film with other members