‘Lonely Hearts’ paints chilling portrait of 1940s serial killers

When is a detective story not a detective story? Answer: When it’s writer-director Todd Robinson’s measured take on his grandfather’s real-life pursuit of the lovers Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, a notorious pair of killers of the late 1940s whose bloody spree left at least four women and one child dead.

In “Lonely Hearts,” John Travolta plays Robinson’s grandfather, Elmer Robinson, a burned-out homicide detective in New York’s Nassau County Police Department who is spurred into action when the snow-white body of a beautiful young woman is found bathed in the deep crimson of her own blood. The death is written off as a suspected suicide but for the brooding and introverted Robinson, it’s an opportunity to make up for a mysterious death he can’t solve -- his wife’s by her own hand.

The film alternates between Robinson’s search for the killers and the exploits of Fernandez (Jared Leto) and Beck (Salma Hayek). Fernandez starts out as a two-bit Casanova con man who preys on spinsters and war widows he contacts through “lonely hearts” matchmaking rags. His game of seduction, however, moves from money to murder when he hooks up with the beautiful but damaged Beck.

Beck’s insane jealousy fuels the relationship and the murders, which are disturbing and difficult to watch both in terms of their graphic nature and the callousness with which they are committed.

As the deliciously psychotic Beck, Hayek delivers most of the film’s best lines and dominates the screen with her presence, whether dressed to the nines in a revealing cocktail dress or scrubbing blood off the floor in a matronly nightgown.

In contrast, Travolta, with his perennially hunched shoulders and overly subdued manner, wears the role of the contemplative detective like an ill-fitting suit. To be fair, Todd Robinson gives Travolta surprisingly little material to work with given the first-time director’s familial connection with the character. Robinson says little and does even less as the pieces fall much too easily into place as he tracks the impulsive couple.

While not much of a detective story, Robinson’s period film (the third based on the so-called “Lonely Hearts” killings) does provide a captivating look at the dynamics that turn Fernandez and Beck into serial killers. In fact, Fernandez strikes an almost sympathetic figure as he remains in the destructive relationship with Beck not so much because he’s in love with her, but because he’s afraid of her.

“Lonely Hearts.” MPAA rating: R for strong violence and sexual content, nudity and language. Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes. In selected theaters.