Psycho Drive-In logo
Search
  • PDI Press
    Featured
    • ON SALE NOW! NOIRLATHOTEP 2: MORE TALES OF LOVECRAFTIAN CRIME!!

      Jeffrey Roth
      December 31, 2018
      News, PDI Press, PDI Press Catalog
    Recent
    • ON SALE NOW! NOIRLATHOTEP 2: MORE TALES OF LOVECRAFTIAN CRIME!!

      psychodr
      December 31, 2018
    • VOICES FROM THE NIGHT: The Living Dead Tell Their Stories

      John E. Meredith
      October 31, 2018
    • American Carnage: Tales of Trumpian Dystopia

      psychodr
      March 24, 2018
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-L
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
  • Columns P-Z
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    Featured
    • They Shall Not Grow Old (2019)

      Jeffrey Roth
      January 31, 2019
      Movies, Reviews
    Recent
    • They Shall Not Grow Old (2019)

      Peterson Hill
      January 31, 2019
    • Advance Review: Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

      Peterson Hill
      January 30, 2019
    • Polar (2019)

      Nate Zoebl
      January 28, 2019
    • Books
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
    Featured
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      Jeffrey Roth
      July 13, 2018
      Interviews
    Recent
    • Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

      Dory Hoffman
      July 13, 2018
    • David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

      Dan Lee
      March 7, 2017
    • Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

      Andre Lamar
      September 29, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

      Jason Sacks
      July 28, 2016
    • SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

      Dave Hearn, Paul Brian McCoy
      July 27, 2016
    • Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

      Gary Richardson, Laura Akers
      April 16, 2016
  • News
    Featured
    • ON SALE NOW! NOIRLATHOTEP 2: MORE TALES OF LOVECRAFTIAN CRIME!!

      Jeffrey Roth
      December 31, 2018
      News, PDI Press, PDI Press Catalog
    Recent
    • ON SALE NOW! NOIRLATHOTEP 2: MORE TALES OF LOVECRAFTIAN CRIME!!

      psychodr
      December 31, 2018
    • We’re KICKSTARTERing NOIRLATHOTEP 2: MORE TALES OF LOVECRAFTIAN CRIME!

      Paul Brian McCoy
      August 6, 2018
    • BREAKING! DOLEMITE AND OTHER RUDY RAY MOORE CLASSICS ON VOD FOR THE FIRST TIME!

      psychodr
      June 22, 2018
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Breaking
  • They Shall Not Grow Old (2019)
  • Advance Review: Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
  • Polar (2019)
  • Advance Review: Serenity (2019)
  • Star Trek Discovery 2.01 “Brother”
  • Advance Review: Glass (2018)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-L
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
  • Columns P-Z
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
Home
Movies

Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart (2013)

Jeffrey Roth
February 14, 2015
Movies, Reviews

The Rundown: Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart is a French animated film that has amazing visuals, a stunning soundtrack, yet is lacking in the story cohesion department. Still, if you love steampunk and French alternative rock, give this movie a chance.

ap_165X240_jack_uk.indd

Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart is the story of, well, Jack. Jack is born on the coldest day of the year, and as a result is born with a frozen heart. The miracle midwife Madeleine saves him by replacing his frozen organ with a cleverly designed cuckoo clock of her own design. The fix has its drawbacks as it comes with three ever important rules: 1. Never play with the hands of your heart. 2. Keep your anger in check, and 3. Never fall in love. Jack is raised by Madeleine, shut away from the outside world so that he will never have the chance to break the third rule. Jack is aware that something is missing from his life, and eventually gains the freedom to search out love, and perhaps find out if he’s more than just moving parts after all.

JatCCH intrigued me when I saw it on Netflix because it reminded me of one of my favorite music videos by the band Dionysos. It features a man with a clockwork heart trying to woo the girl he loves who does not love him back. (“Tais-toi Mon Coeur” in case you’re curious). It’s a gorgeous video, and it always left me wanting more. Turns out that the singer of Dionysos, Mathias Malzeu, wrote a children’s book that the movie is based on, and he also composed the score and songs for the movie. It’s definitely an interesting concept and I was hoping that it would explore the struggles of forbidden love, or perhaps do a ‘love can overcome all obstacles’ kind of arc. Unfortunately, the result is a bit jumbled.

Jack and the Clock-3

There are many nice things to say about Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart. It’s gorgeous for one; the world is crafted very well and exudes a unique visual style that captures the eye and the imagination. If I had to describe it, I’d say it’s steampunk with a dash of magic thrown in, with some surrealism for good measure. Every shot is a treat, and I can say that despite its story problems, JatCCH was never boring to watch. Where the film falls short is in delivering on a core concept. While they have great exposition, and introduce some foils, these either never come to fruition, or come back to the story too late to be of any real impact.

Much of their time is spent reinforcing Jack’s rules, and describing the parts of childhood that can be a nightmare on the playground. Then, instead of dealing with the film’s namesake problem, they go into how hard it is for an adolescent boy to ask out the girl he likes. It’s cute, and somewhat endearing, but I really wanted some actual plot that made Jack deal with his heart, as opposed to scenes of him talking about it.

Jack and the Clock-4

Now, I had to see this on Netflix, and there is one thing I should warn you about. Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart is originally a French film. I knew this, but when I looked in the settings it seemed there was no way to watch it in the original French with English subtitles. This made me watch it with English dubbing, and while the voice acting is great, the synchronization is not. This made some of the songs fall flat (translating music is always difficult), and some scenes just became frustrating to watch. I would love to get my hands on an original copy and see if that improves my feelings about the film.

Overall, this movie has a lot of heart (hyuck), and is a treat for the eyes. If you like a bit of surrealism to your love story, as well as a steampunky setting, Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart is the film for you this Valentine’s Day. Or maybe you’re just really into French alt rock. Either way. Happy watching!

Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart (2013)
Jeffrey's Rating
3.0Overall Score
Reader Rating: (0 Votes)

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

DionysosJack and the Cuckoo Clock HeartJeffrey RothMathias Malzeu

The Walking Dead 5.09 “What Happened and What’s Going On”
The Musketeers 2.04 “Emilie”

About The Author

monsterid
Jeffrey Roth
Pen to Paper / All-Seeing Eye

Jeffrey Roth is an award winning animator, all around badass, and is now writing for your amusement. When not wrestling with the mysteries of the universe, he is watching anything and everything and having opinions on it. ALL THE OPINIONS.

Our Facebook Page

Our Instagram Page

Load More...Follow on Instagram

Follow us on Twitter

My Tweets

Latest Reviews

  • They Shall Not Grow Old (2019)

    Peterson Hill
    January 31, 2019
  • Advance Review: Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)

    Peterson Hill
    January 30, 2019
  • Polar (2019)

    Nate Zoebl
    January 28, 2019
  • Advance Review: Serenity (2019)

    Peterson Hill
    January 24, 2019
  • Star Trek Discovery 2.01 “Brother”

    Paul Brian McCoy
    January 22, 2019

Latest Columns

  • Lost in Translation 282: Remakes and Comedy Vehicles

    Scott Delahunt
    February 15, 2019
  • Women in Horror: Zelda Rubinstein

    Jessica Sowards
    February 11, 2019
  • Lost in Translation 281: Parodies

    Scott Delahunt
    February 8, 2019
  • Women in Horror: The 6th Friend (2016)

    Corin Totin
    February 1, 2019
  • Lost in Translation 280: Bumblebee

    Scott Delahunt
    February 1, 2019

Look Who's Talking

John E. Meredith
John E. Meredith - 2/14/2019
THE FLESH IS WEAK #5: TAKE SHELTER
So this morning . . . apparently two years later . . . with the car loan within a few months of being paid off . . . what feels like the inevitable happened. Though I've been incredibly careful on...
Dignan
Dignan - 1/26/2019
Advance Review: Serenity (2019)
I'm sorry, the title "Serenity" is already taken. Please choose another name for your film.
Shawn EH
Shawn EH - 1/24/2019
Star Trek Discovery 2.01 “Brother”
She's also on a command training path, so that should tighten things up a bit when needed, and she was both soft and hard core in the Short Trek with the stowaway she found. That struck a good...
Paul Brian McCoy
Paul Brian McCoy - 1/23/2019
Star Trek Discovery 2.01 “Brother”
She was... energetic and bubbly. I think that'll tone down a bit as the season goes on. Agreed on Jet Reno. She was awesome. Exactly the sort of energy this show needs. Good to hear from you, man!!
Dignan
Dignan - 1/23/2019
Star Trek Discovery 2.01 “Brother”
I felt Tilly was a bit over the top in this episode, and worry she is becoming a caricature of herself. I hope they give her more depth and less one-liners. Really liked the Jet Reno character so far....
Large_rectangle_336X280
RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

Archives

All work on this site is Copyright © each individual writer.
  • PDI Press
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-L
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
  • Columns P-Z
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews
    • Books
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews
  • News
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Merchandise
%d bloggers like this: