September 30, 2001 -- "Hearts in Atlantis" is an oddity among Hollywood releases of late, a gentle, sensitive, literate, perceptive film about the human condition. The basic story reminds me of "Simon Birch" except this one is told from the point of view of secular humanism.

Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins ("Silence of the Lambs)" stars as Ted Brautigan, a stranger with supernatural mental powers who is on the run. He hides out in a room rented by Elizabeth Garfield (played by Hope Davis of "Mumford"). Elizabeth's young son, Bobby (played by Anton Yelchin of "Along Came a Spider") becomes fascinated by the mysterious stranger. The story takes place in the 1950s in New England.

It is a coming-of-age film, but it is more subtle than most, and more bittersweet. Michael spends his idyllic boyhood days with his best friends, Carol Gerber (Mika Boorem of "The Patriot") and John "Sully-John" Sullivan (Will Rothhaar). It seems like a time of magic, like Atlantis. Only Ted Brautigan can see the sorrow to come. Director Scott Hicks ("Snow Falling on Cedars" and "Shine") is one of those rare directors who knows how to use words as well as images. He trusts words to carry the story when words are best suited for the job.

One memorable scene has Ted telling Bobby about a football game. The story is told almost entirely verbally, while other directors might have succumbed to the temptation to use a visual flashback. Hicks makes the right choice. The story is told powerfully. Ted is a man of words and ideas, with a deep love of good books. He passes this love of books on to Bobby, telling him to give a good book a couple of hours to capture him. This is the author's (the screenplay is based on a novel by Stephen King) voice talking. A voice seldom heard in the movies today. With his gentle words and ideas, Ted helps to prepare Bobby for the difficult years ahead.

This is a slow-moving story without much action. It is a story about emotional development, the small tragedies that befall people and how they are changed by them. It is also about friendship, love, self-hatred, loyalty, broken hearts and betrayal. To a certain extent, it seems to be a story about a certain well-known author growing up in a small New England town the 1950s. It is about how books can be a comfort for such a young person in that instance. There have been many stories like this, written by many authors who grew up in similar small towns, and a lot of these stories have been turned into movies. If nostalgia was all this film is about, it wouldn't be worth much. It is more than that.

The actors do a very fine job, including David Morse of "Dancer in the Dark" who plays the grown up Robert Garfield. The cinematography is stunning. There is a memorial at the end of the film to cinematographer Piotr Sobocinski, who died last spring. This was one of his last films in a distinguished, but all too short, career that included "Angel Eyes," "Twilight," and "Trois Couleurs: Rouge." Sobocinski was an artist with the camera and he will be missed. This film rates a B.

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