Untamed Heart (1993)

In UNTAMED HEART, a waitress named Caroline falls in love with Adam, an introverted busboy who claims to have a heart transplant from a baboon. Although the movie starts out with friendship and unconditional acceptance, it snowballs into a tale of self-actualization through sexual intimacy. The story begins at Jim’s Coffee Shop & Bakery in Minneapolis, where waitress Caroline serves tuna melts and chocolate floats to hungry customers. After working all night, Caroline trudges homeward through alleys and streets blanketed with snow. Suddenly, she is stalked by two drunken customers, who attempt to rape her. Just in time, the coffee shop’s busboy, Adam, appears and whacks them over the head with plywood. He carries the semi-conscious Caroline home. A unique friendship develops that later ventures into the bedroom.

The movie explores every carnal woman’s fantasy: to love a man who is so infatuated with you that he practically worships you; and, to be able to help him straighten his life out. While Hollywood rejoices in such fairy-tale romances, reasonable men will recognize that it is idolatrous. Although UNTAMED HEART successfully captures a young person’s mindset, it feeds us a big lie: that sexual intimacy outside of marriage results in personal fulfillment. Of course, this “big lie” couldn’t be more devastating for young people, who will identify with the movie’s characters and plot.