The always excellent Jeff Bridges gives one of his finest, most impressive and hard-edged performances to date as Jack Kelson, a scruffy, but basically decent ex-con who gets paroled and has trouble readjusting to civilian life. Jack gets a job washing windows, resides in a cheap crummy apartment, tries to save money so he can move to Alaska and start life afresh, and attempts to bond with his forlorn, disaffected teenage son Nick (beautifully played by Edward Furlong). Documentary filmmaker Martin Bell, working from an astute, no-nonsense script by Peter Silverman, directs his first fictional feature with a commendable blend of total assurance and steady compassion for the more downtrodden members of modern society. The strong, moving and absorbing story about redemption and urban blight thankfully eschews cloying sentiment and hokey mainstream Hollywood razzle-dazzle; in their place we instead have a rough and unsentimental tone that naturally draws poignancy from the characters and the dire situation they find themselves struggling to overcome. Bridges and Furlong are both outstanding in the leads; they receive fine support from Lucinda Jenney as Jack's sweet cabbie girlfriend Charlotte, Don Harvey as Jack's slimy old criminal partner Rainey, Tracey Kaprisky as sad teenage prostitute Molly, and Melvyn Hayward as Jack's stern, but fair parole officer Normandy. The cinematography by James R. Bagdonas nails the grimy despair of the grungy Seatle locations with exceptional vividness. James Newton Howard's spare, bluesy score and a tip-top soundtrack which includes several terrific songs by Tom Waits further add to the film's deeply affecting impact. The downbeat ending is absolutely heartbreaking. A total powerhouse.

American Heart casts Jeff Bridges in the role of a recently paroled convict who would like to make a fresh start of things. But from the gitgo he's saddled with a responsibility of his own making. His 14 year old son Edward Furlong runs away from the uncle he's been staying with and hooks up with Bridges.

Sad to say but it's like they're doomed from the start. They live in an SRO hotel on Seattle's seamier side. Bridges is working as a window washer, barely making ends meet. Furlong tries to enroll in school, but the bureaucracy proves too much. He falls in with a lot of street kids including child hooker Tracey Kapisky who reminds me very much of Jodie Foster in Taxi. She's lives in the same SRO with her mother who's in the same profession and jealous of her daughter.

Bridges also has a younger associate, Don Harvey who'd like to get him back in the criminal life. He's also found a bit of romance with a prison pen pal in Lucinda Jenney.

American Heart is a real downer of a film, but very well done. Sad to these are very real people. But oddly enough it follows the same plot line as the Shirley Temple movie Now and Forever with Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard. Sort of like an R-rated version of it.

This film is not one for those who like happy endings. Still I think it is one Jeff Bridges finest screen achievements.

An ex-convict (Jeff Bridges) is tracked down by his estranged teenage son (Edward Furlong),and the pair try to build a relationship and life together in Seattle.

Elements of the screenplay for "American Heart" were based on material originally covered in the director's prior documentary film "Streetwise" (1984),such as the relationship between Dewayne and his father. Having not seen the earlier film, I cannot comment on the connection any more than that.

Not surprisingly, Edward Furlong won an award for this, and Jeff Bridges is as great as ever (he is quite the natural). It is a shame that Furlong went on to a more questionable future. One cannot help but wonder if the early success tainted his later life.