Jack of the Red Hearts

I'm a big fan of AnnaSophia Robb and saw this for her but also Famke Janssen another favorite actress of mine. I had no idea what this was about, but I expected some great acting out of these two, and I was not disappointed. Jacqueline "Jack" Ferguson is a smart-mouthed girl living off the streets. Cynical and mean-spirited from living years without a proper family, except a younger sister whom she loves with all her heart. But child services will not allow Jack, still, a girl, to raise her sister. But she hopes that she can via deception and her raw intelligence does so by becoming a caretaker to a family's autistic child. At first, believing it to be an easy life as a live-in nanny, the complications become too difficult to bear. Yet she strives for not just a roof over her head but for the necessary recommendation to win back her sister. But slowly, and steadily she grows close to every member of the family. The mom who is so overburdened by the responsibility that she is at the breaking point of her sanity, a hard-working husband who loves every member of his family but has little time to show them affection, and finally the older son who has worked just as hard to watch his sister that he has missed out on his young life. But as Jack works her con, it becomes clear that she cares, seeing the daughter as much as her sister, seeing the mother like the mother she never had and the son as a friend, and releasing some of her pent-up loneliness. All this and more leads to a conclusion that isn't the most satisfying but is realistic. I still loved this movie, the acting, and the performers from my favorite actresses to the young actress playing the autistic daughter. A good film.

It may give off some unlikeable vibes to it's characters, but the depiction of autism shows there was enough effort, and dare I say heart, put into the portrayal worth viewing and discussing.

On a whole it was good acting, touched my heart in the way that these movies tend to. Made the viewer aware of the struggles people have with autism as well as growing up without parental figures. I wasn't happy with the ending but it was far more realistic than most.

It's hard to find a movie that accurately depicts the struggles of autism. Jack of the Red Hearts will tug at your heart strings and have you asking, "What will happen next?"

It was an okay drama, wasn't anything special or extra sentimental or something like that. It was just another Autistic kid - family movie. I wasn't moved by it.

The right idea is that, to be "The Good Doctress", every single case of autism should be approached as a different aspect of a more generic and general framework. The wrong idea is that only those who have experienced a deviant life would have such a curative talent, and this stifles the film with an excess of subplots concerning the 18-year-old girl. (Mauro Lanari)

Sweet story, not so great ending.

It's rare that a drama shows such specificity with respect to the experience of coping with autism, and that sensitivity goes a long way. But, as is, the film proves a strained, implausible family drama.

The movie felt so long, but I enjoyed the pace of the storyline. Though I couldn't imagine how Jack could work that long and did not get her identity exposed, but overall it was a good movie and I could sympathize with the struggles faced.

Annasophia Robb seems to star in such heartstring tugging movies. They are not blockbusters, but wow are they riveting.