TIFF Review: If You Saw His Heart

Haunted by the accidental death of his best friend, the life of a criminal spirals out of control.

A rollicking wedding is taking place involving the best friend of Daniel (Gael García Bernal) and a series of interspersed flashbacks show the death of the groom.  Since the fateful accident, Daniel has been living in a motel occupied by a group of misfits with various psychological ailments.

Gael Garcia Bernal does not have to say much as he has a pair of piercing soulful eyes that reveal a tormented soul.  The trouble is there is not all that much going on in the movie that is a One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest meets The Shining wannabe.  Daniel is not really a likable character so it is hard to sympathize with him.

The emergence of Francine (Marine Vacth) feels like a footnote as suppose to an emotional awakening that brings protagonist out of his deep depression.  Filmmaker Joan Chemla goes out of her way to emphasize the marginalization of her characters and in the process of doing so they come across as caricatures not psychologically scarred people.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada; he can be found at LinkedIn.