Heart of the Storm (2004 TV Movie) User Reviews (7)

Unrealistic and Corny

[claudio_carvalho · 4/10 · 8 August 2006]

In New Orleans, while the Lila hurricane approaches, three convicted prisoners, Simpson (Thomas Cavanagh), Juke (Marcus Lyle Brown) and Tad (Ritchie Montgomery), escape from the forced labor. In their getaway, they come to the house of Cassie Broadbeck (Melissa Gilbert), who has just left her husband and chief of the local fire department Wayne Broadbeck (Brian Wimmer), and is moving to Chicago with her two daughters, the slow Hayley (Azure Dawn) and Nicole (CiCi Hedgpeth). The tension increases when Wayne breaks in the house trying to save his family.

"Heart of the Storm" is not a good movie. Exploring the theme of the 1955 and 1990 "The Desperate Hours", with criminals trapped inside a house with a defenseless family, this story is unrealistic and absolutely corny. Living in Brazil, we frequently read on the news how criminals behave when they invade a family house. Imagine three guys in the middle of nowhere with three women challenging the criminals the way they did! The guys had never made any insinuation of sex or tried to rape the women in the story, and Cassie makes a totally unnecessary sexual offer to Simpson, acting like a bitch most of the time. The ham actress CiCi Hedgpeth has one of the worst performances I have ever seen in a movie. Most of the dialogs are also terrible, and it is funny that the most sympathetic characters are Juke and Hayley. The good performance of Thomas Cavanagh is the best part of this forgettable flick. My vote is four.

Title (Brazil): "No Olho do Furacão" ("In the Eye of the Hurricane")

Attended world premiere in Fort Lauderdale

[craigbonney · 1/10 · 7 November 2004]

Bad writing is the first culprit, I find it hard to believe that three escaped prisoners would behave as courteously and avoid profanity as much as this group. Producers must be trying for a PG (G?).

My willing suspension of disbelief never kicked in for this movie. I was never sympathetic to Melissa Gilbert's character. I felt that neither she nor her teenage daughters (none of which bear any resemblance) were ever in any real danger.

Ritchie Montgomery turns in a stellar and believable performance as a stupid redneck. He is the only bright spot in this drivel.

Contrived, cliché overacted and tedious. Do not attend and do not rent.

Heart of the Storm: For the crime of burden I find you guilty!

[Platypuschow · 3/10 · 5 February 2018]

Heart Of The Storm is one of those teledramas and though the genre rarely produces good films they aren't usually this bad.

It tells the story of three criminals who break free during work detail and proceed to take a woman and her two teenage girls hostage.

You know the drill, you probably know exactly how the thing plays out and you'd no doubt be accurate.

The first thing that struck me is how lifeless the film is, so incredibly boring. Very little actually happens, it's just all so dull. Like someone whipped together a script in half an hour and the cast simply couldn't be bothered.

Nothing offensive but Heart Of The Storm is 12 shades of boring.

The Good:

The bit where the credits rolled worked for me

The Bad:

Really damn boring

More cheating protagonists

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

The prison uniforms were designed by RuPaul

I am amazed of how bad this movie is!!

[Cahilla · 1/10 · 1 April 2008]

This movie is sooooo incredible lousy!!! The acting is just unbelievable bad! CiCi Hedgpeth (Nicole, she is the youngest daughter, the blond one) is the worst actress I have ever been unfortunate to see in a movie. It is extremely embarrassing, and feels slightly unfair that someone as incredible bad as her can get any kind of screen time. Were the casting people on drugs when they hired her? I cannot for the life of me understand how she got the part!??! Probably someones relative or something. I know its just a lifetime movie, but still. Melissa Gilbert is the only positive thing about this movie, she acts halfway decent. Not as good as she has been before though , but with co-actors like she had - no wonder she had to struggle to try to make this flop remotely believable! As for Azure Dawn who plays the oldest sister Hayley, the slightly retarded one. She was also painful to watch, but she actually had her brief moments of something that could resemblance acting - if one tried hard enough to look for those moments, cause they are brief.

All in all it is a waste of precious time. No wait, you should actually try to see this movie, its sure gonna make you laugh. And never regret anything that once made you laugh, right?

kidding?

[wingedheartart · 2/10 · 5 May 2010]

Okay, I have to say, whoever wrote this must think we are just stupid. I don't mean movie watchers exactly, but moms/women.

She didn't know where her keys were? He was in a hurry for the freaking keys and she takes the time to fix her face/wash the blood off? She also doesn't know the code "thingy" to get in to her OWN CAR?????

Give me a freaking break.

She is going through a separation ....she has two daughters, one is damaged...so ANY MOTHER would MAKE SURE she knew where the keys were at ALL TIMES and the code to the car, because she is alone in the country/on an island no doubt in a storm. I love Melissa Gilbert, but COME ON....when she read the script why didn't she point those things out.

Maybe she did and the director said to do it as written. Maybe she should have walked off the set.

And Thomas Cavanaugh as a bad guy????? right..........

Changing the channel now.

Oh and for mom's out there who don't know the codes to their cars and/or live in the country or remote areas with no man type person around.....know where your things are for Pete's sake and have a plan set up in case something horrible happens... a break in etc. Talk it over with your girls and have it planned our where they should run etc. and what to do in case someone breaks in. Better to be prepared/a tad paranoid, then not.

Wouldn't hurt to have a sentence or word to work into a sentence in case your mom/husband/exhusband/neighbor calls. To let them know you are in trouble without saying, "I'm in trouble." Unless you have time to SAY that.

Tom Cavanaugh rocks! Wonderful performances throughout.

[jordanlansky · 9/10 · 9 November 2004]

I saw this at the Ft. Lauderdale festival. I found it really entertaining.

On the bad side, the script seems very uneven and corny in places, the opening is like a TV movie with Melissa Gilbert baking cookies for the church or something. But once the story starts being about the escaped convicts it's really fun to watch. The other two convicts are played by Mark Brown and Ritchie Montgomery. Ritchie is the most fun in the show. Every time he opened his mouth the crowd laughs.

Melissa Gilbert is better than average in this, it seems like she's really trying to get rid of her old TV actress image. But I found her costume really distracting. What woman facing 3 desperate convicts would dress so sexy?

The rain and wind and hurricane stuff is really amazing for a movie with an obviously low budget. The music is really good, kind of Cajun.

Would people pay $12 to see this at a theater? No. But I'll sure watch it again when it comes to TV.

Entertaining Film!

[whpratt1 · 10/10 · 23 November 2004]

If you are looking for a film to keep you interested, this is the film for you. You will see lots of lightning, thunder and a very old New Orleans home and antiques. A local area is preparing for a very bad storm and they are starting to sandbag and are getting assistance from convicts. Melissa Gilbert, (Cassie Broadbeck),"Ice House",'89, was put in a position to protect her daughters from wild convicts who escaped. Cassie even told one of the convicts that she would offer herself for sexual favors if they would only leave her two daughters alone and not abuse them. However, the daughters were very willing to cook up some chili and a few tuna fish sandwiches for the convicts pleasure! Thomas Cavanaugh (Simpson),"Something More",'99, played a great role as the gang leader who was mean right down to his toes! This is a very entertaining film and worth watching!