Hard Rain Review
by David Nusair (dnusair AT chat DOT carleton DOT ca)January 19th, 1998
Hard Rain
Starring Christian Slater, Morgan Freeman, Minnie Driver, Randy Quaid
First it was called "The Flood" and now it's called "Hard Rain". I don't see much of a difference, but apparently some executives at Paramount figured that with a title like "The Flood", it might become another casuality of the "disaster movie flops", a la "Volcano" and "Dante's Peak".
Well, whatever you want to call it, it's a pretty good movie. It's written by Graham Yost, the guy responsible for the first "Speed" movie. "Hard Rain" is very similiar in many respects. We have the hero who doesn't really want to be a hero. We have the love interest, who is much wiser than she appears to be. The only thing different, is that "Hard Rain" doesn't really feature a clear villian, where "Speed" had Dennis Hopper.
This isn't a bad thing, really. I mean, aren't we all sick of the stock film bad guy? It's usually some dude with a grudge, and a lot of ammo/bombs at his disposal. "Hard Rain" features Morgan Freeman as the "bad guy", but once we get to know him, we find that he's really not that bad after all. He doesn't want to kill anyone, he just wants to get the money that Christian Slater is responsible for. It's through a set of extreme circumstances that his non-violence plan is thrown off course. To say more, would really be unfair, because a large part of the enjoyment of this film are the unexpected surprises along the way.
Christian Slater, recently jailed for beating up his girlfriend, gives a fair performance as a man who's just trying to do the right thing under really difficult circumstances. The real star of the show, however, is Freeman. It's really surprising to see him "slumming" in a film like this, but he does bring an unexpected air of dignity to what would have otherwise been a standard action flick.
Anyway, while it's no "Speed", "Hard Rain" is a suitably diverting way to spend an hour and a half.
Dave "Loopy" Nusair dnusair@chat.carleton.ca
,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,., : "In a 'USA Today' interview, Vanna White said since her son has been : ; born, she wants to work less. Vanna, you turn *tiles* for a living. ; : If you worked any less, you'd be the triangle player in the 'K.C. : ; and the Sunshine Band.'" -Dennis Miller ;
;.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.; Dept. of Good Vibes, Come visit my Reel Film Reviews site Carleton University at "http://chat.carleton.ca/~dnusair"
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