Hopkins: "Yelchin is remarkable"

Sir Anthony says the role came easily to him. In fact the Oscar winning actor declares : "It's me, it's no stretch for me to play this character, he's a bit remote, comes into town, does a few things and then leaves, that's my life!"

The young boy Bobby, at the centre of this coming of age drama, is transformed by his relationship with Brautigan.

Through Brautigan, his upstairs lodger, he learns about the nature of love, the complexities of life as well as some comforting truths that relate to his father.

Great skill

Brautigan's psychic gift, which enables him to understand what others are thinking, allows him to develop a close relationship with the young boy.

It's one of those heart wrenching films that's very sad, not tragic, but very sad

Sir Anthony Hopkins

Bobby is played with great skill and confidence by 11-year old Russian born actor Anton Yelchin.

Hopkins found Yelchin to be "a remarkable boy, very bright, extraordinary little kid".

Through Brautigan, Bobby learns that some mysterious and dangerous Low Men are operating in their midst.

These Low Men are never identified, but the implication is that they are government agents who want to capture Brautigan so they can harness his psychic powers to help combat Communism.

Challenging times

Hearts In Atlantis may well be cinema that resonates with the recently traumatised American nation.

Hopkins is best known as Hannibal

Although it focuses on a young boy it deals with his journey from a summer of innocence to darker, more troubled and challenging times - a transition that many American moviegoers may now strongly identify with.

Hopkins has a sense that the movie will fly at the box office.

At the North American premi�re he told reporters: "It's a really good powerful film and apparently the studio is more than very pleasantly surprised that the tracking has been so good because it's one of those heart wrenching films that's very sad, not tragic, but very sad."

'Real heart'

The movie is based on a collection of Stephen King stories that have been adapted for the screen by William Goldman.

The Australian filmmaker Scott Hicks, who shot to fame with the release of Shine, an international art house five years ago, directed the film.

Hicks said: "When I read the script, it was one of those pieces of writing that just seized hold of me. I felt it was a story that had a real heart to it, that there was something pulsing in emotionally and if I could capture that on film then it could make a really powerful movie."

But audiences will find the film has a languid, low-key style that is far from bombastic.

Underlying story

It feels old-fashioned, particularly with the slow-pace of its editing. Hicks has made sure that each frame has been intricately composed with nothing amiss.

One difficulty that audiences may have with this drama is that it takes a long time to accept that Hopkins is not the evil Hannibal Lecter and that the elderly man he is playing is well-meaning.

Overall the acting in Hearts In Atlantis is very strong, but many critics agree the underlying story is slight.

As with Scott Hick's last studio picture, Snow Falling on Cedars, there have been complaints that his beautifully wrought visual imagery overshadows a weak underlying narrative.

The audience may be left wanting more substance, but this light nostalgic escapism might hit just the right note at the US box office in these troubled times.