Francis Ford Coppola's One From The Heart takes one right through the head. This puppy is D.O.A.

While it was a fascinating filmmaking experiment in its day -- One From The Heart was initially released in 1982 -- it has not time-travelled very well.

But Coppola, despite the disastrous box office track record of this film, has restored and slightly revised his oddball romantic musical. This new version was seen at the Toronto film festival in September and is now in commercial release.

It is impossible to believe it will attract a new audience, or an old one, for that matter. What once seemed like something "a bit wacky" -- as Coppola himself now calls it -- now seems sapped of energy, emotionally lacklustre and even ridiculous.

A lumpen Frederic Forrest and an often semi-nude Teri Garr play an unmarried couple on the verge of breaking up in Las Vegas. He chases after a sexy circus performer (Nastassia Kinski) and she is swept off her feet by a dashing Latino singer-waiter (the late Raul Julia). Key support players are Forrest's best friend (dreary Harry Dean Stanton) and Garr's blousy confidante (bubbly Lainie Kazan).

The pivotal experiment in One From The Heart was Coppola's use of electronic devices that allowed him to monitor and edit his $33 million film on the run, on set.

These procedures are now commonplace. For this film, which sank Coppola into near-bankruptcy because he used and lost all his own money, the visionary filmmaker tried to use them to create what he calls "live cinema." He wanted to parallel the vibrant live television shoots of the 1950s.

To achieve this, Coppola and his key crew, especially cinematographer Vittorio Storaro and production designer Dean Tavoularis, created a surreal environment. They built a fantastic replica of downtown Las Vegas, and a modest suburban house, with painted backgrounds and a stylized look. Theatrical stage lighting enhanced the effect.

In this environment, the actors virtually "staged" a movie, improvising some lines and situations, even though they were following a script by Armyan Bernstein and Coppola. As a result, there is a loosey-goosey feel to the piece.

Unfortunately, the love story at the centre is empty. In a simple love story, you are supposed to root for love to flourish. But in One From The Heart, there is no frisson.

Mix in the pseudo-musical stuff, with droning songs and singing by Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle, and the occasional dance numbers, and things just get silly.

(This film is rated PG)

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