Heartbreakers (1984)

If only your friends were as perfect as strangers.

Los Angeles painter Arthur Blue (Peter Coyote, E.T. and Bitter Moon) and businessman Eli Kahn (Nick Mancuso, Ticket to Heaven and Nightwing) are the best of friends, commiserating and competing always, whether on the racquetball court or in the singles bar. When Blue’s long-term girlfriend Cyd (Kathryn Harrold, Modern Romance and The Sender) leaves him for a more successful artist (Barney Miller’s Max Gail) and Eli’s father (George Morfogen, They All Laughed and V) passes away, they each fall for a beguiling French art gallery manager (Carole Laure, Sweet Movie and Get Out Your Handkerchiefs), and their fragmented bromance enters crisis mode. The late Carol Wayne (The Tonight Show and Surf II) co-stars and leaves a lasting impression as Blue’s sad artistic muse and sometime lover.

Filmmaker Bobby Roth (The Boss’ Son and Circle of Power aka Brainwash) based his screenplay on his experiences growing up and working in Los Angeles, and the film reflects his insider’s view of the city and deep personal connection to the characters. Although filmed in Hollywood, Heartbreakers refreshingly and effectively evokes the mood of European relationship dramas. To this end, the film employs two of Germany’s most revered exports to world cinema: director of photography Michael Ballhaus (the longtime cinematographer for Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Martin Scorsese) and pioneering electronic musicians Tangerine Dream (Sorcerer, Thief and Risky Business), who contribute one of their most emotional and evocative scores. Out of print on home video since the tape era, this critically-acclaimed festival favorite has been restored in 2K from its original 35mm interpositive and is poised to wow and surprise audiences anew.

directed by: Bobby Roth
starring: Peter Coyote, Nick Mancuso, Carole Laure, Kathryn Harrold, Carol Wayne
1984 / 99 min / 1.85:1 / English DTS-HD MA 1.0