Tell Tale (2009)

A man's newly transplanted heart leads him on a dangerous journey to find out who murdered its donor.

Director:

Michael Cuesta

Writers:

Dave Callaham (screenplay) (as David Callaham), Edgar Allan Poe (short story "The Tell-Tale Heart") (as Edgar Allen Poe)

Stars:

Josh Lucas, Lena Headey, Brian Cox

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Josh Lucas	...	Terry Bernard
Lena Headey	...	Elizabeth Clemson
Brian Cox	...	Phillip Van Doren
Bea Miller	...	Angela Bernard (as Beatrice Miller)
Jamie Harrold	...	Kevin Stanovich
Michael Kenneth Williams	...	Acherton
Pablo Schreiber	...	Bernard Cochius
Tom Riis Farrell	...	Legethon
Ulrich Thomsen	...	Doctor Lethe
Dallas Roberts	...	The Surgeon
Cassandre Fiering	...	Frances Vieillard
Peg Holzemer	...	Elderly Woman In Wheelchair (as Peg Saurman Holzemer)
Scott Winters	...	Doctor Averman
Kara Lund	...	Nurse
John Timothy Botka	...	Police Officer

Storyline

In Providence, a husband and wife die in a botched robbery; we see flickers of his last memories. His heart goes to Terry Bernard, a single father raising a girl with a rare degenerative disease. After the operation, Terry has flashes of memory from the last moments of the dead donor's life. Then, he recognizes one of the donor's killers and follows him into an alley. Within days, Terry becomes an unwilling avenger, with a police detective on his trail. Meanwhile, he begins a romance with his daughter's doctor, his moods complicated by memory flashes, the donor's deepening presence in both Terry's mind and body, and the unexplained bond among the donor's killers. Can this end well?

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Plot Keywords:

gift | pill | stitching one's wound | cell phone | donor | 

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Taglines:

Truth Lies a Heartbeat Away.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violent content, language and a scene of sexuality

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 December 2009 (Greece)

Also Known As:

Tell Tale

Filming Locations:

Benefit Street, Providence, Rhode Island, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Artina Films, Oceana Media Finance, Poe Boy Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (FotoKem)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When lead character meets Acherton in bathroom his name-tag says Michael Acherton after he is called the detective refers to him as Paul Acherton.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Paramedic: [over radio] Dispatch this is Rescue 3. I have a 55 year old white male named Lyar, John. He has massive blunt trauma to the skull. Glasgow Coma Score is 1, Henry 3. Patient has ID in his wallet identifying him as an organ donor. Alert trauma and transport team.
Dispatcher: Copy that.

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Connections

Version of The Tell-Tale Heart (1953)

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Soundtracks

The Torture
Written by Leslie Stevens
Performed by Leslie and the Badgers

User Reviews

Grizzly and Disturbing...Disconnected and Vague

This one feels disconnected and rambling at times and at other times it is a rather effective Horror Movie with enough interest to keep things pumping along. The exposition is the trouble in this sometimes disturbing display that could have been cooked up by an early David Cronenberg.

Things are a bit unclear at times and some more clarity and explanations are called for as the separation between the Audience and the Film oscillates drawing one with a caring for the Characters but motivations and situations are frustratingly vague.

The transplanted Heart beneath the chest-boards of the Protagonist is the Paranormal tie to Poe, but that is inconsequential here and only matters in an off-handed Title and that's where it stays, unless you count the thump-thump-thump-thump. By itself, this is grizzly enough for Gore-Hounds and the Physical Maladies of the Father-Daughter are both empathetic and unsettling.

Worth a View for Fans of the Horrific and the Creepy, but those looking for tight Crime elements and want more definition to the proceedings may be disappointed.