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 | woman wears a bra and panties | 

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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

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

There were many Tell Tale signs that this was a turkey

It wasn't awful in the Ed Wood sense of the word awful. It just draaaagged-- as if the actors had taken some very strong downers. The dialog was unintentionally funny, because it was so predictable and not too well written--plus, the lead actor who played the single dad named Terry, had this "I'm scared" look on his face throughout at least 75% of this film. For the remaining 25% of the movie, he looked like as though he was always about to burst into tears.

Loosley (an understatement) based story on Poe's The Tell Tale Heart. This is a prime example of ruining a literary masterpiece of horror. Poe,(if alive)would've driven a stake through the screenwriter's heart, then buried him under the floor boards. The flick portrayed the story as kind of a horror, suspense, action mish mosh. Unfortunately, there was little of any horror, suspense or action. It had the overall feel of some "made for TV" mega flop. In the film, there was a surprise here and there, but no big deal. We've seen 'em before in other movies. Nothing seemed to gel here, it was like eating runny jello in it's early cooling stages before it firms up. It's all sloppy and difficult to get on a spoon to eat. Too frustrating and not worth the effort. Watch this movie only if you are on Quaaludes.

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)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$367,586

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