Untamed Heart (1993)

This is the only Page with negative comments on this "GEM". Who are these people? Their comments are so ludicrous, one even talking about heart surgery...Duh! This is a modern Urban Fairy Tale; that's what the late Gene Siskel called it. But it's also an extremely touching story of true love. So what if his scars don't look right. The story is the thing here! It's a wonderful story, and only made better by the performances of the cast. Marissa Tomei has never been better and is so believable as Caroline. So is Christian Slater in what I would call his best role ever. Rosie Perez adds a touch of sass and the rest are equally believable. I watched them film this movie on my way to work, where the house/set was in Northeast Minneapolis. I passed the vans and trailers every day for a few months. I thought this would ruin the film for me, but when Marissa appears on screen she takes you away into her world. This should have had some Oscar nominations, but those voters don't see every movie. They don't know what's going on. If you want to enjoy a good movie, buy or rent this one.

Christian Slater is a young man with rather freakishly long hair who has been raised in an orphanage and now works as a dishwasher in a Minneapolis diner. He rarely speaks and keeps to himself. Marisa Tomei is a waitress in said diner, and Rosie Perez is her earthy but sympathetic sidekick. Slater has developed a crush on Tomei and follows her around at a discreet distance, so when she's attacked while walking home from work he's able to rescue her. Later, her attackers wreak an unpleasant revenge on Slater. All of this brings the two of them together. Slater lets her know, in his recedent way, that he adores her, and she responds by falling for this shy, silent kinda guy. Their love is, how you say, consummated. But there is a problem. Slater was told by the nuns at his orphanage that he's had a heart transplant, with the donor being a baboon. Whether that's the case or not, his heart is now weakened and needs a booster shot, which Slater is unready to undergo. Eventually his heart, simian or hominid, beats its last, but not before he's had a heck of a good time exchanging tender gestures and body fluids with Marisa Tomei.I can't really tell if this is a particularly well-done example of the genre because I watch so few examples. I could see most of the developments coming, and so would you. And the crooning of Johnny Mathis and Nat "King" Cole's mystical pop song, "Nature Boy," from the 1950s really wasn't necessary. We get the picture. Slater is quiet, shy, and mysterious -- like Montgomery Clift in "A Place in the Sun" -- the sort of man who attracts women, but only in the movies. In real life I would imagine that he would absorb the attention of women who were chiefly neurotics. A research plan for young men who DON'T look like Montgomery Clift: Get a menial job, speak to no one, don't meet anyone's gaze, and see what happens. If you save a co-worker from rape, you might get a Thank You note and a box of chocolates.Well, I've made sufficient fun of the movie and it's a bit unfair, like stretching the iridescent wings of a butterfly on the rack. It's supposed to be a sweet and endearing story, and it is, even if it's some mutant form of Beauty and the Beast. At least I was able to get into it, though I hadn't expected to.The "Nature Boy" business was an irritant, and the baboon heart slipped motionlessly by me, but Slater is quietly effective in the role and Marisa Tomei is quite good and thoroughly believable as a sensitive young woman who serves ham and eggs and reads "Catch 22" at home. Rosie Perez is always a kick in the pants too.The film stands as a beacon of hope for those of us who trudge off to work, looking exactly the way we feel, and yet suffer from an intense desire to find love in an unpromising milieu. Or anywhere else.

I've heard a little bit about Untamed Heart on TV and from a friend of mine, how sweet it was and very romantic. So I figured I would give a rent and see what it was about. While the dialog is extremely cheesy and a bit over done, I have to admit, I was... shudder... touched. It's silly, I'm not into the over romantic type of movies, but actually I have to admit that this was a good one. Untamed Heart gets under your skin and if you open yourself up to it, I'm sure you'll find yourself falling for it as well.Caroline doesn't have the happiest love life. Every boyfriend of her's dumps her and mistreats her; she's just a simple waitress who doesn't finish much of what she starts. One night coming home late from work, she is attacked by two men and is almost raped, but is saved by Adam, a bus boy that works with her. Slowly Caroline and Adam develop a strong love for each other, but Caroline learns a strange secret that Adam was a weak baby and was given the heart of a baboon. When he is attacked by the men who tried to rape Caroline, the doctors warn her that he is in danger of his heart, but all Adam wants is to have his heart full of love from Caroline.Untamed Heart is pretty much flawless, I'm sure that you'll enjoy it. It's very sweet and a loving film that anyone could get into. Even I got into it, which once again I say is weird, you're reading a comment from the only girl on Earth who hated The Notebook. But I did enjoy Untamed Heart, it had good acting and an original story that was beautiful. So please, I do recommend this film if you are looking for a good romantic film.8/10

I just saw this movie for the first time about an hour ago, I loved it! I'm a sucker for a good romance, whether or not it was unrealistic doesn't really matter to me. Every girl hopes that one day her world will be transformed because of a guy as sweet as him. The only thing that sucked was that he died of course, there was no happily ever after, but she got a chance to see how much of an effect one person can have on another person and obviously that changed her forever.I have this book called "10,000 Ways To Say I Love You", in it is a list of the 21 most romantic movies of all time, this movie was on the list, for any of you who find that interesting.