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Heart of America (film)

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Heart of America
DVD release cover
Directed byUwe Boll
Written byRobert Dean Klein
Produced byShawn Williamson
Wolfgang Herold
StarringJürgen Prochnow
María Conchita Alonso
Clint Howard
Miles Meadows
Brendan Fletcher
Lochlyn Munro
Will Sanderson
Maeve Quinlan
G. Michael Gray
Michael Belyea
with Patrick Muldoon
and Michael Pare
Edited byDavid M. Richardson
Music byReinhard Besser
Release dates
  • September 5, 2002 (2002-09-05) (Oldenburg International
    Film Festival)
Running time
87 minutes
CountriesCanada
Germany
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million (estimated)

Heart of America (also called Heart Of America: Home Room or simply Home Room; not to be confused with the 2002 film Home Room) is a 2002 drama film by German director Uwe Boll about a fictional school shooting in a suburban high school. The film also addresses the issue of school bullying.

Plot

The last day of school contains many problems for both teachers and students of Riverton High School, and there are multiple storylines about this.

The principal, Harold Lewis, must discipline English teacher William Pratt, who has let his professional frustrations get the better of him, while guidance counselor Vanessa Jones attempts to get through to student drug dealer Wex Presley, who is ruining her students.

Meanwhile, Principal Lewis' daughter, Karen, is having trouble with her boyfriend, Tommy; outcast Dara McDermott craves drugs; a pregnant girl named Robin Walters argues with her boyfriend, Kevin Rhodes, about her future options; and bully Ricky Herman begins to recognize the consequences of his actions.

Unbeknownst to these people, two bullied students, Daniel Lynn and Barry Shultz, are about to shoot up the school as an act of revenge against their tormentors. Barry, however, is having second thoughts, while the seething Daniel prepares to unleash his rage. Daniel decides to attack his high school on the last day, insisting that he does not care if he lives or dies, tired of constant harshness and abuse from his uncaring father, Artie, and from bullies at school; Ricky amongst them. On the last day, Daniel carries out his plan, aided by Dara, who spontaneously joins him. Daniel confronts three of his past tormentors: Paul, Ricky, and Jeff, and kills them. Kevin is shot and killed when he and Robin come into the line of fire, much to Daniel's regret, while Robin is spared. Meanwhile, Dara walks into her English class and kills Mr. Pratt, and Karen, who had been a rival for the attentions of Tommy. Dara is then subdued by bully Donny Pritzee, who was presumbably in love with Karen, and is turned over to the police. Barry walks away from the school, having bailed out on the plan, believing there are other responses to the abuse he and Daniel suffered in the past. A lone gunshot then rings out.

As the film ends, a reporter informs the public of the school shooting, revealing that Daniel committed suicide, and the camera turns away from the TV to show Barry's and Daniel's shocked parents watching. At Daniel's home, the phone begins to ring, but Artie cannot bring himself to pick it up. The film then ends as a voice lists off major incidents of violence perpetrated by minors.

Cast

Reception

The film holds no score based on critics' reviews at the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes though 43% of users liked it.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ Heart of America (Home Room) (2003). Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 28, 2013.
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