Based on the autobiographical novel by Edith Iglauer, Navigating the Heart is a made-for-TV romance notable only for how its main characters are such gigantic tools. I mean, this is the rudest, most prickly and dismissive couple I've ever seen fall in love. They insult each other and everyone else and display so little patience or empathy for those around them that you're waiting for them to have a knife fight, not fall into each others arms. Weirdly, though, you'll wind up feeling more for these difficult jerks than they or their story necessarily deserves. Perhaps that's merely due to the charms of Jaclyn Smith and Tim Matheson mixed with the unabashed earnestness of Tantoo Cardinal. Whatever the mysterious alchemy, I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I expected.
Edith Iglauer (Jaclyn Smith) is a New York City journalist working for Manhattan magazine and, to be honest, she's kind of a bitch. Not mean, but completely full of herself and with little regard for the people around her. When her magazine gets sold and the new managing editor (David Andrews) takes Edith away from her political beat and sends her to British Columbia to do a story on the price of salmon, she complies in the most minimalist way she can for an assignment Edith clearly thinks is beneath her. Upon arriving, Edith is belittling to an Indian/Eskimo/Native Canadian/whatever they're called up North (Tantoo Cardinal), who nevertheless takes pity on the white woman and helps her out. She directs Edith to John Daley (Tim Matheson), an ill tempered bastard of a fisherman, in the hopes Edith will decide to do a story on the impending dam project that will destroy the salmon run and their way of life.
Well, Edith and John spend time with each other and bicker so intensely that it seems like this film will turn into a murder-suicide instead of a love affair. A near death experience on the open water transforms their sizzling, mutual contempt into love and, when her dickish editor demands Edith returns to New York, she must choose between John and the only life she ever thought she wanted.
Navigating the Heart is a by-the-numbers production, from the charming locals who enlighten the urbanite to the values of rural life to the "they hate each other so much it must be love" relationship between John and Edith to the sassy best friend Edith has in New York. But at only about 90 minutes and structured for TV to have some sort of an important moment every quarter hour or so to keep people tuned in over the commercial break, it all moves briskly enough to prevent the banality from sinking in. That's a backhanded compliment, but not every movie has to try and reinvent the damn wheel. There's nothing wrong with following time tested formulas to produce a competent motion picture, if you do it correctly. These may be familiar notes, besides the amusingly excessive animosity between the soon-to-be lovers, but they're played well enough to make the song worth listening to.
You won't find anything surprising here, though I was surprised to find out what happened to the real John Daly, but as it can be fun to hear and old song sung by a different voice, it's a pleasure seeing Smith and Matheson effortlessly play out these well worn roles to their satisfying conclusion. While obviously not for anyone who detests the genre, romance fans will get what they want out of Navigating the Heart.
Edith Iglauer (Jaclyn Smith) is a New York City journalist working for Manhattan magazine and, to be honest, she's kind of a bitch. Not mean, but completely full of herself and with little regard for the people around her. When her magazine gets sold and the new managing editor (David Andrews) takes Edith away from her political beat and sends her to British Columbia to do a story on the price of salmon, she complies in the most minimalist way she can for an assignment Edith clearly thinks is beneath her. Upon arriving, Edith is belittling to an Indian/Eskimo/Native Canadian/whatever they're called up North (Tantoo Cardinal), who nevertheless takes pity on the white woman and helps her out. She directs Edith to John Daley (Tim Matheson), an ill tempered bastard of a fisherman, in the hopes Edith will decide to do a story on the impending dam project that will destroy the salmon run and their way of life.
Well, Edith and John spend time with each other and bicker so intensely that it seems like this film will turn into a murder-suicide instead of a love affair. A near death experience on the open water transforms their sizzling, mutual contempt into love and, when her dickish editor demands Edith returns to New York, she must choose between John and the only life she ever thought she wanted.
Navigating the Heart is a by-the-numbers production, from the charming locals who enlighten the urbanite to the values of rural life to the "they hate each other so much it must be love" relationship between John and Edith to the sassy best friend Edith has in New York. But at only about 90 minutes and structured for TV to have some sort of an important moment every quarter hour or so to keep people tuned in over the commercial break, it all moves briskly enough to prevent the banality from sinking in. That's a backhanded compliment, but not every movie has to try and reinvent the damn wheel. There's nothing wrong with following time tested formulas to produce a competent motion picture, if you do it correctly. These may be familiar notes, besides the amusingly excessive animosity between the soon-to-be lovers, but they're played well enough to make the song worth listening to.
You won't find anything surprising here, though I was surprised to find out what happened to the real John Daly, but as it can be fun to hear and old song sung by a different voice, it's a pleasure seeing Smith and Matheson effortlessly play out these well worn roles to their satisfying conclusion. While obviously not for anyone who detests the genre, romance fans will get what they want out of Navigating the Heart.
