Heart of a Stranger

2002

Action / Drama

IMDb Rating 5.3/10 10 268 268

optimism heart transplant motivating

Plot summary

What happens when you receive someone else's heart and wind up with the transplant donor's personality traits and memories too? Jill Maddox, a middle-aged concert violinist, is about to find out! After her surgery, Maddox starts chugging beers, blasting modern music and donning barely-there miniskirts. She is acting like the 22-year-old guy whose ticker she inherited. Even weirder — this is a true story!

Director

Dick Lowry Photo
Dick Lowry

Top cast

Jane Seymour Photo
Jane Seymour as Jill Maddox
Vince Corazza Photo
Vince Corazza as Billy
Peter MacNeill Photo
Peter MacNeill
Maggie Lawson Photo
Maggie Lawson as Amanda Maddox
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
831.08 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 30 min
Seeds ...
1.51 GB
1920*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 30 min
Seeds ...

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by martyw34 3 / 10

Bleak.And a possible spoiler.

I'm not sure if males figure in this films viewer demographic. I have heard of this theory (espoused by a religious group) of an organ recipient taking on the personality of the donor-for good or ill.I sometimes wonder where this world is heading-whether it is being led by media and the film industry.I know 'it's only a film' but,if I had a daughter who behaved so badly towards me because I changed after a lifesaving operation-I would kick her backside!!!We are populated with selfish 'later' generations-and I think this dross perpetuates this.I hope someone who made this film reads this.The saving grace is of course-that Jane Seymour is still stunning.Unfortunately,the daughter who also looks stunning,acts like a spoilt brat..and ITS the parent who (as per usual) has to pander.Geez.....
Reviewed by lavatch 3 / 10

Maudlin and Lugubrious

In this strange film, Jill Maddox is a middle-aged woman with heart problems. When she is rushed to the hospital after a donor's heart becomes available, she has a transplant. The operation is a success, and Jill has a new lease on life. The balance of the film is an exploration of the circumstances of how Jill becomes estranged from her daughter Amanda.When Jill receives the new ticker, she is, in effect, getting a used part. In this case, she senses a weird connection with her donor, a young man who lived on the wild side and died in a motorcycle crash. Jill now becomes a biking enthusiast, a pool shark, listens to rap music, and wears mini skirts.The daughter who was a devoted caretaker to her mom when her heart was failing now is resentful of Jill's new lease on life. A gifted musician, Amanda now abandons her goal studying violin at conservatory. In the film, Amanda appears to be 30 or older, yet she still lives at home and never entertains the notion of moving out and living on her own. Jill participates in a support group with other transplant recipients. But it is Amanda who is in need of therapy due to her co-dependency issues.When Jill decides to visit the family of the donor in Rhode Island, she is welcomed as a member of the family. Yet once again, Amanda feels slighted and distances herself even farther from her mother. In the most preposterous artistic choice, the filmmakers tried to turn the experience into an uplifting Christmas film at the end!There was little internal logic in the workings of "Heart of a Stranger." It was never believable that Jill was receiving a psychic message from Matt the donor. A character named Dr. Emil suggested that there was Chinese "chi" energy or the Japanese vibrations of "ti." Concurrently, the filmmakers were straining to make palatable the theme of the mother-daughter bonding in the sentimental ending. But the rift between Jill and Amanda was so great that the Jill's video message, the Christmas tree, and the prospect of Amanda playing violin at Jill's restaurant by the sea were never credible.
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