ably for his psychic powers. (Tliat’s lowrnin the Dickensian sense, he explains.) hirnthe novel, these pursuers have a provenancernin the standard science-fictionrnconceit of a parallel universe. Tliey standrnfor bullying forces of all sorts, powerrnabusers—official or freelance—who takernfor granted that they have tlie right to imposerntheir will on others. Here, the filmrndeviates tendentiously and irresponsiblyrnfrom the novel. While King leaves thesernlow men eerily and suggeshvely vague,rnGoldman has taken the astonishing libertyrnof injecting his own polifics into the plot.rnAs Ted worries about the low men in thernfilm, we are given close-ups of newspaperrnarticles. “FBI Announces New Measuresrnto Apprehend Red hifiltrators,” bellowsrnone tabloid headline; another seeks torncalm its readers: “Hoover Denies FBI IsrnRecruiting Psychics in Battle AgainstrnCommunism.” Without saying it directly,rnthe film leads the audience to believe thatrnTed had once been held capfive by thernFBI and is now on the ideological lam.rnGoldman and Hicks probably think theirrnunwarranted interpolation merely makesrnKing’s conceit more accessible to a filmrnaudience that demands realism. Such isrnreality for Hollywood filmmakers: FBI,rnevil; communists, misunderstood. Oldrnhabits die hard. It’s probably nothingrnmore serious than vaguely leftish artistsrnmindlessly falling into line with what theyrnassume to be political righteousness. Ironically,rnthey have only managed to exposerntheir naivete, especially in the aftemiatli ofrnSeptember I I . I only wish King wouldrnblow the whistle on them for appropriatingrnhis text in tlie cause of tlieir stale andrnthoroughly discredited notions.rnDespite these narrative and ideologicalrnflaws, however, this film has its merits.rnIt exhibits powerful acting and eloquentrnvisual design. Hope Davis excels as thernmother, breaking from her usual turn asrnthe sweet, demure girl-next-door. Shernplays a thoroughly unlikable mom —rnscheming, manipulative, whiny, andrnenormously self-centered—and she doesrnit so well that some reviewers have expressedrndismay. How could she allowrnherself to be so unpleasant? This is calledrnacting, very fine acting at that. The film’srndirection is also admirable. Workingrnwith children is risky, but Hicks hasrnelicited some very nahiral performancesrnfrom his young actors, especially MikarnBoorem, who never seems to be performingrnat all. As Bobby, Alton Yelchin hasrnbeen saddled with some nearly impossiblernlines. Nevertheless, he does well,rnespecially in his scenes with Hopkins.rnHicks’ cinematography is also impressive.rnHe shoots many interior scenesrnfrom Bobby’s point of view. We see whatrnthe boy sees: separate rooms stretchedrnacross the screen divided by dark walls,rneach revealing only a portion of its contentsrnthrough a partially opened door.rnAdults move back and forth—visible onernmoment, occluded the next. Simple asrnthey are, these compositions ingeniouslyrnexpress the boy’s fleeting, fragmentaryrnview of the froubling adult world that surroundsrnhim.rnThere is a Wordsworthian ambivalencernin King’s imagination, which isrnprobably why he has gravitated towardrnfantasy and horror. These are genres thatrntypically allegorize childhood confusionrnby placing sheltered innocence in therncontext of unpredictable and monstrousrntreachery. In Hearts in Atlantis, King hasrnmuted and softened this .strategy, but itrnunderlies his plot at every turn. WhilernTed carefrilly gives Bobby measured accessrnto a dishirbing adult world, he sometimesrnsuggests it would be preferable tornstay innocent. At one point, watching thern•rnIrn1rn* jflt*^rnSK’rnr ^^ • ^^^^SSrni! • %rni: • 1rnIt JaBrnI* ^Srn’Kl L ‘• – ‘ 1 ^^KSU^Bt/L^” farn^•^K ^^^b^^^^^ – OrnR^^^^Kh i | j | l , 1 1 ‘ mmrn^^^^^^^BSMMu^^^^m ^ 4^^lrnr^B^^B^H^^^^^^B at^^rn^.«i««^^F..::^rn_ ^ _ _ ^ , ^ ^HHHiy^Hj.’F,.! -rnI ^ H Checkout ^ ^ ^ TrnI ^ P P George ^HkrnmM McCartneys j mrnH I V reviews trom | ^ B I ‘rnHHt our back issues ^ Hrn^mm online at ^„WBrn^^^^^^.ChromdesMagflZ””^-“” WHgkrnWBBKm^^^ •^ “‘••.’.rnchildren absorbed in their play, he musesrnthat, “when you’re young, you have momentsrnof such happiness you think you’rernliving a magical place, in Aflantis; thenrnwe grow up and our hearts break in two.”rnThe novel’s conclusion corrects this romanticrnnostalgia for glorified youth withrnan episode that’s not in the film. Wernmeet Bobby as an adult of 50 and findrnthat he has acqiured “that sense of thernworld as a thin veneer stretched overrnsomething else, something both brighterrnand darker.” A little vaguely, perhaps,rnbut King seems to be reaching for the exhilarationrnthat comes with a tragic sensernof life, a niahire vision that comprehendsrnthe frill arc of our mortality.rnIn last month’s column, I mentioned EdmundrnMcNally, my cousin Elizabeth’srnhusband. At the time I wrote, he hadrngone missing in the aftermath of thernWorld Trade Genter attack. Althoughrnwe held onto some slender hope in therndays immediately following Septemberrn11, we had to accept his loss. His frineralrnwas held three weeks ago. Then, lastrnweek, we learned his remains had beenrndiscovered and he was given a burial service.rnWhile no one knows for sure the frillrncircimistances of Ed’s demise, we dornknow this: He was in the same buildingrnin 1993 when terrorists attempted tornbring it down with a truck bomb. At thatrntime, Ed joined his colleagues in escapingrndown a stairwell. Before he did, however,rnhe stopped to gather a huge computerrndrive in his remarkably strong arms.rnFearing it might contain irreplaceable information,rnhe carried this machine downrn97 floors to street level. Subsequently—rnand no doubt not coincidentally — hisrnfirm put him in charge of evacuation proceduresrnin case of another such incident.rnI mention this because many peoplernfrom Ed’s floor did escape the building’srncollapse. One lady reports she last sawrnEd helping others on their way to safety.rnWhat must have happened next is this:rnThe second plane hit his building, thernsouth tower, trapping him along with sornmany others in the resulting conflagration.rnWe’ll never know how many peoplernbecame heroes that day, but I amrnconvinced Ed was one of them.rnEd would have been 41 this month.rnHe leaves his wife, his three daughters,rnand hiuidreds of friends and family membersrnbehind.rnCLESrnrnrn