Heart of America (film)

Heart of America
DVD release cover
Directed by	Uwe Boll
Produced by	Shawn Williamson Wolfgang Herold
Written by	Robert Dean Klein
Starring	Jürgen Prochnow María Conchita Alonso Clint Howard Miles Meadows Brendan Fletcher Lochlyn Munro Will Sanderson Maeve Quinlan G. Michael Gray Michael Belyea with Patrick Muldoon and Michael Pare
Music by	Reinhard Besser
Edited by	David M. Richardson
Release dates	September 5, 2002 (2002-09-05) (Oldenburg International Film Festival)
Running time	87 minutes
Country	Canada Germany
Language	English
Budget	$5 million (estimated)

Heart of America (also called Heart Of America: Home Room or simply Home Room; not to be confused with the 2002 film Home Room) is a 2002 drama film by German director Uwe Boll about a fictional school shooting in a suburban high school. The film also addresses the issue of school bullying.

Plot

The last day of school contains many problems for both teachers and students of Riverton High School, and there are multiple storylines about this.

The principal, Harold Lewis, must discipline English teacher William Pratt, who has let his professional frustrations get the better of him, while guidance counselor Vanessa Jones attempts to get through to student drug dealer Wex Presley, who is ruining her students.

Meanwhile, Principal Lewis' daughter, Karen, is having trouble with her boyfriend, Tommy; outcast Dara McDermott craves drugs; a pregnant girl named Robin Walters argues with her boyfriend, Kevin Rhodes, about her future options; and bully Ricky Herman begins to recognize the consequences of his actions.

Unbeknownst to these people, two bullied students, Daniel Lynn and Barry Shultz, are about to shoot up the school as an act of revenge against their tormentors. Barry, however, is having second thoughts, while the seething Daniel prepares to unleash his rage. Daniel decides to attack his high school on the last day, insisting that he does not care if he lives or dies, tired of constant harshness and abuse from his uncaring father, Artie, and from bullies at school; Ricky amongst them. On the last day, Daniel carries out his plan, aided by Dara, who spontaneously joins him. Daniel confronts three of his past tormentors: Paul, Ricky, and Jeff, and kills them. Kevin is shot and killed when he and Robin come into the line of fire, much to Daniel's regret, while Robin is spared. Meanwhile, Dara walks into her English class and kills Mr. Pratt, and Karen, who had been a rival for the attentions of Tommy. Dara is then subdued by bully Donny Pritzee, who was presumbably in love with Karen, and is turned over to the police. Barry walks away from the school, having bailed out on the plan, believing there are other responses to the abuse he and Daniel suffered in the past. A lone gunshot then rings out.

As the film ends, a reporter informs the public of the school shooting, revealing that Daniel committed suicide, and the camera turns away from the TV to show Barry's and Daniel's shocked parents watching. At Daniel's home, the phone begins to ring, but Artie cannot bring himself to pick it up. The film then ends as a voice lists off major incidents of violence perpetrated by minors.

Cast

Killers

• Kett Turton as Daniel Lynne, the ringleader of the shootings.
• Elisabeth Rosen as Dara McDermott, a meth-addicted outcast.

Kids

• Michael Belyea as Barry Shultz, Daniel's best friend
• Elisabeth Moss as Robin Walters, a pregnant girl who hopes to become a waitress.
• G. Michael Gray as Wex Presley, a student drug dealer who sells meth to Dara.
• Kevin Mundy as Tommy Bruno, Karyn's boyfriend and a jock.
• Spencer Achtymichuk as James Pratt, Will's toddler-aged son, who has a habit of repeating the curse words Will lets slip.
• Lily Shavick as Paula, Karyn's best friend.
• Michaela Mann as Slow White
• Chris Jovick as Kenny
• Justin Stillwell as Joe
• Mike Savage as Dave

Bullies

• Will Sanderson as Frank Herman, the head bully.
• Matthew MacCaull as Donald "Donny" Pritzi, a jock/bully.
• Christopher Marvrikos as Lenny, the least intelligent of the bullies.

Adults

• Jurgen Prochnow as Harold Lewis, the principal of Riverside High School.
• Maria Conchita Alonso as Vanessa Jones, the school's guidance counselor.
• Clint Howard as Arthur "Artie" Lynne, Daniel's abusive, uncaring father.
• Maeve Quinlan as Becky Schultz, Barry's mother.
• Chilton Crane as Helena Pratt, Will's wife and James' mother.
• Lesley Ewin and Brigit Stein as Ms. Weinberg and Mrs. Hall, the school's office administrators.
• Patrick Muldoon as Ryan Kirkland, a friend of Will's who works at the school.

Victims

• Alejandro Rae as Paul
• Brendan Fletcher as Ricky Herman
• Steve Byers as Jeff, another bully
• Miles Meadows as Kevin Rhodes, Robin's boyfriend
• Michael Pare as William Pratt, the creative writing teacher. He is closely linked to Dave Sanders, as both were the only teachers killed in their respective shootings.
• Stephanie MacGillivray as Karyn Lewis, the principal's daughter.

Miscellaneous

• Benjamin Derrick as the mailman
• Lochlyn Munro as the reporter
• Brad Loree as a man with a mask
• Brent Connolly, Richard Kahan, and John Kralt as additional students
• Nick Allen, David Ferguson, Gary Ferguson, and Dustin Brooks as "small students"

Reception

The film holds no score based on critics' reviews at the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes though 43% of users liked it.

See also

• School Violence
• Elephant - A film inspired by the Columbine High School massacre
• Zero Day, Another 2003 film inspired by the Columbine High School massacre
• The Only Way, a 2004 American independent film inspired by the Columbine High School massacre
• Duck! The Carbine High Massacre - Yet another film inspired by the Columbine High School massacre
• The Class - (Estonian: Klass) is an Estonian movie about school violence directed by Ilmar Raag

External links

• Heart of America at IMDb