HEARTBREAKERS

(director/writer: Bobby Roth; cinematographer: Michael Ballhaus; editor: John Carnochan; music: Tangerine Dream; cast: Peter Coyote (Arthur Blue), Nick Mancuso (Eli Kahn), Carole Laure (Liliane), Max Gail (Charles King), James Laurenson (Terry Ray), Carol Wayne (Candy), Kathryn Harrold (Cyd), Jamie Rose ( Libby), Jerry Hardin (Warren Williams); Runtime: 98; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Bobby Roth/Bob Weis; Vestron Video; 1984)

“A perceptive buddy film about thirtysomethings learning they are no longer boys and have to face the pitfalls of growing up.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A perceptive buddy film about thirtysomethings learning they are no longer boys and have to face the pitfalls of growing up. Bobby Roth’s (“The Boss’s Son”) debut feature film is a semi-poignant modern-day comedy/drama that is set in mod Los Angeles (showing off its hip bar/cafe scene and artist lofts), where handsome second-generation successful sportswear factory owner Eli Kahn (Nick Mancuso) and his long-time pal Arthur Blue (Peter Coyote), a struggling avant-garde artist, are both unhappy because their lives seem empty. Womanizer Eli wants a real romance instead of his one-night stands and Blue wants to achieve recognition as a serious artist without selling out to commercialism. Blue’s unhappiness multiplies when his hot live-in chick of the last five-years Cyd (Kathryn Harrold) dumps him for successful abstract artist Chuck King (Max Gail).

Blue quits his dead-end temp job and manages to get a show in the T. Ray Gallery of his pinups, featuring fetish queen Candy (Carol Wayne), the busty model with a heart of gold, posing in high-heel shoes and a garter belt and little else. The boys have no trouble settling who takes Candy to bed, as both win the lottery to bed her down. It’s usually Eli who scores first, as even Cyd was a hand me down from his pal. But when both meet the lovely French art gallery assistant Liliane (Carole Laure), Eli as usual scores first. But when Liliane gravitates towards Blue and balls him on the eve of his successful art show, it hurts Eli–thinking this was his dream girl and his best friend has snatched her. The fight over Liliane brings out their competitive natures and allows the secret jealousies they harbor for each other to become out in the open.

Many small but insightful things are manifested about relationships and making it in the art world, and the performances by Coyote and Mancuso are on the money. There’s also a sweetly erotic performance by Wayne that’s a real turn on and a deliciously campy gay one by Laurenson as the instinctive gallery owner with the Midas touch. Added to that is the pulsating music by Tangerine Dream and colorful location shots of L.A. by cinematographer Michael Ballhaus.

REVIEWED ON 12/20/2005 GRADE: B+   https://dennisschwartzreviews.com/