Taglines: He doesn’t make sense. She doesn’t make sense. Together they make sense.
Untamed Heart movie storyline. Caroline has not had much luck in love. Boyfriends seem to either leave her or cheat on her. Then she meets a shy, introverted man at work named Adam. When leaving work one day, two men attack her. Adam comes to her rescue.
Unfortunately, retaliation by the attackers sends Adam to the hospital where he finds out he has a diseased heart. Adam is an orphan and was told he had a baboon’s heart. He refuses a transplant, as he believes his love for Caroline is contained in his damaged heart. Before tragedy can strike, they have a passionate but brief romance. Adam opens up to Caroline and he, in turn, heals her broken heart.
Untamed Heart is a 1993 American romantic drama film starring Christian Slater and Marisa Tomei. It tells the story of a young woman, always unlucky in love, finally finding true love in a very shy young man. The film is directed by Tony Bill and written by Tom Sierchio. The original music score is composed by Cliff Eidelman, and includes a classical interpretation of “Nature Boy”.
Tony Bill discovered Tom Sierchio’s screenplay for Untamed Heart during one of his talent hunts. He asked an agent at William Morris to send him screenplays from new writers. Originally, Sierchio’s screenplay had been submitted as a writer’s sample. Bill showed the screenplay to producer Helen Bartlett who suggested that they option it. Within two weeks of Sierchio handing his script to his agent, MGM had greenlighted the project. Originally the film was entitled The Baboon Heart in honor of an infant named Baby Fae (born 14 October 1984) who received a cross-species heart transplant from a baboon to fix a congenital heart defect.
Initially, Bill had not considered Christian Slater for the role of Adam, “but then it was just the obvious choice.” For the role of Caroline, Bill remembered auditioning Marisa Tomei for his earlier film, Five Corners. She had been too young for that role but after her success with My Cousin Vinny, he knew she was right for this film. Sierchio’s screenplay was originally set in New Jersey but for logistical reasons they could not shoot there.
The filmmakers considered finding a location to double for the state but while Bill, Bartlett, and Sierchio were scouting in Minneapolis, they realized that it was the perfect place because of its strong acting community (they cast 35 of the film’s 40 roles from it) and a large commercial production community which allowed them to utilize a mostly local crew.
Untamed Heart (1993)
Directed by: Tony Bill
Starring: Christian Slater, Marisa Tomei, Rosie Perez, Kyle Secor, Willie Garson, Claudia Wilkens, Pat Clemons, Vanessa Hart, Wendy Feder, Nancy Marvy, Gary Groomes
Screenplay by: Tom Sierchio
Production Design by: Steven J. Jordan
Cinematography by: Jost Vacano
Film Editing by: Mia Goldman
Costume Design by: Lynette Bernay
Set Decoration by: Cliff Cunningham
Art Direction by: Jack Ballance
Music by: Cliff Eidelman
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some strong language and violence, and for sensuality.
Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release Date: February 12, 1993
Hits: 352
