A HEAVY HEART (Herbert)
Contemporary World Cinema D: Thomas Stuber. Germany. 109 min. Sep 12, 10 pm Scotiabank 2 Sep 14, 3:30 pm Scotiabank 10 Sep 18, 3 Scotiabank 2. See listing. Rating: NNN
If Rocky Balboa never got the title shot with Apollo Creed, he probably would have ended up like Herbert, a washed-up boxer who works as a bouncer and debt collector before discovering he has ALS.
Peter Kurth delivers a weighty performance as a man who relied so much on his physique that muscle failure becomes especially tragic. Director Stuber builds a fine character study through that slow disintegration, watching a man who spent his life breaking bones and relationships make feeble attempts to fix things.
Herbert’s estranged, angry daughter (Edin Hasanovic) becomes the film’s emotional hook, but unfortunately her story is too vague and clumsy to deliver the sentimental knockout the film hopes for.
