Jack of the Red Hearts (2015)

A teenage con artist tricks a desperate mother into hiring her as a live-in companion for her autistic daughter.

Director:

Janet Grillo

Writer:

Jennifer Deaton

Stars:

AnnaSophia Robb, Famke Janssen, Scott Cohen

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
AnnaSophia Robb	...	Jack (Jacqueline Ferguson)
Famke Janssen	...	Kay Adams
Scott Cohen	...	Mark Adams
Israel Broussard	...	Robert Adams
Taylor Richardson	...	Glory
John D'Leo	...	Dudley
Maria Rivera	...	Daisy
Sophia Anne Caruso	...	Coke (Bethany Ferguson)
Tonye Patano	...	Miz
Donna Kennedy	...	Dr. Molina
Parisa Fitz-Henley	...	Cynthia
Drena De Niro	...	Elizabeth
Ana Maria Jomolca	...	Foster Mother
Gameela Wright	...	Mrs. Maxwell
Briana Marin	...	Scotty's Companion

Storyline

A streetwise teenage runaway is on the lam from her probation officer. Her name is Jacquelyn, but if you call her anything but Jack, she'll cut you. Needing to lay low, earn money, and gain adequate stability to rescue her 11-year-old sister Coke from foster care, Jack cons her way into a suburban home as live-in helper for their autistic 11-year-old daughter, Glory. Much to her surprise, Jack has a unique ability to connect with the nonverbal little girl. As she positively impacts Glory, the family impacts Jack. Particularly Kay, Glory's mother. As these two scrappy survivors find an affinity with each other, Kay finds in Jack a daughter she can talk to. When romantic sparks fly between Jack and Robert, Glory's 17-year-old brother, we see a group of wounded people poignantly and surprisingly begin to heal each other-just a little bit. But the law catches up, the truth comes out, and Jack is forced to make a choice-to save her own hide, or save someone else.

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Plot Keywords:

overalls | brother sister relationship | mother son relationship | mother daughter relationship | autism | 

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Genres:

Drama | Family

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements including teen behavior, language, and smoking

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filming began on June 20 in New York.

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Quotes

Kay Adams: That kid... has to wear those
[sound-blocking headphones]
Kay Adams: all the time. He can hear water running through pipes. Lots of these kids have sensory issues. Autism pretty much sucks.

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Connections

Features The Miracle Worker (1962)

User Reviews

The best life lesson comes from our own experience.

I recently reviewed a French film called 'Marie's Story', and that led me to check out another masterpiece 'The Miracle Worker'. I loved both the films which are based on the real story that sets around the same time, but in the different continents. This was inspired by those two, other than that there's no connection. In fact they have given a credit by mentioning the Hollywood version. Only a similar theme, but the plot revolves differently. Like it gives an insight of some misconception on the autism.

It was actually about a 18 year old rebellious girl Jack, who meets a child with autism. After her young sister was taken away by the child service, she plans to fight back for her custody as they were promised to their mother that they would stay together. Now all she has to do is to find a job, but for her criminal record, she has only one way to get one and she pushes for it. So the story begins when the struggle for her sister guide for a new and unexpected life for both her and the family she meets.

The major misunderstanding is it is not all about autism, it was only a part of the story. But the original tale is about a girl whose life transformation from the teenhood to the adulthood. You could say it is a kind of mix of coming-of-age and self-discovery. The phase of that life is very crucial, especially for those who had lost their parents and struggling to find their own place in the society. So the learning process comes from their own experience than anybody's guidance. In that perspective, it was a beautiful and a simple family drama that inspires us. It was not based on the real story, but a very close to one, that's how it leaves the expression on the audience.

"Just felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest and served on a cracker."

The girl who played the role of an autistic child was good, not fully impressed, but the effort was highly appreciable. As I said the story's focus was on AnnaSophia Robb, though Famke Janssen has given a decent performance too. Most of the human inventions were the accidents and so the most of the relationships. It is until they meet, the right person for each, then their life would be changed forever. Like perhaps Annie-Helen and Marie-Marguerite from the films I mentioned in the first paragraph.

The human bond is very unique, but moving to the modern world's society, the rules have kept changing on treating the individuals because of the status of their life. So for the orphans, especially in the first world countries not easy to tackle such situation. This film highlights some of the issues, where and how the teenagers are getting lost.

Love and care are what most essential for the children, that's what family is for and with that kind of support they will achieve good things in life. But not the same case for the orphans who're treated as some kind of robots and forced to do against their will. It is good for their future, but a messed up system and its officials behaving badly like handling a prisoner. That's how Jack looks at from the perspective of her own life, until she meets a family who seek her help and realises the life is not as complicated as it looks, but we've to opt a right path to travel which needs a great sacrifice on the way to accomplish.

It is a very good message film. When one fails to realise, just let them to experience themselves until they come to realise. Sometimes it will be too late to begin again, but nothing is impossible. It is very sad that the film is undiscovered by many. It is no masterpiece, but the quest was very clear to depict the world from the teenager's perspective about how they look at the society, especially the system that laid eyes on them when no other eyes are looking after them. I Highly recommended it, especially for the drama fans and the family audience. Perhaps it might be one of the must see from the last year.

8/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Instagram

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jack of the Red Hearts

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sundial Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Color:

Color