Movie Review: ‘HUNGRY HEARTS’ – A Famished Attempt At Storytelling

Cole Clay // Film Critic

HUNGRY HEARTS | 109  min | UR
Director: Saverio Costanzo
Cast: Adam Driver, Alba Rohrwacher and Roberta Maxwell

Adam Driver (GIRLS) is about to be a bonafide movie star once the “Force Awakens” on December 18, but until then we’ll have to settle for mediocre indie fare, such as his HUNGRY HEARTS.

Director Saverio Costanzo (IN TREATMENT) starts off with a quirky meet-cute between Jude (Driver) and Mina (Alba Rohrwacher) in an accidentally locked restaurant bathroom that has been permeated by stench of No. 2. It’s gross, but none-the-less a funny scene. From there the mood goes from 100-to-0 real quick. The impatient directing barely gives us time to understand the couple’s dynamic.

The couple get married have a baby and live a charmed New York City life until Rohrwacher’s character, Mina, implants her New Age ideals onto their child and refuses to feed the new born any form of protein, or let him leave their apartment. It’s not the practices that are shunned; it’s the innate fear of not being able to communicate with your partner that attempts to build tension in the film.

Rohrwacher and Driver are more than capable players, but this film doesn’t make a lot of sense on a narrative level. Many filmmakers attempt to make a film as mysterious as HUNGRY HEARTS, but this head-scratcher will forever remain an enigma, or just be forgotten by dinner time.

HUNGRY HEARTS is playing in limited release today.