Random Hearts Review
by "Mac VerStandig" (critic AT moviereviews DOT org)October 14th, 1999
Moviereviews.org Review
Random Hearts
1 and 1/2 Stars (Out of 4)
By Mac VerStandig
[email protected]
http://www.moviereviews.org
October 11, 1999
The tagline on Random Hearts reads "In a perfect world, they never would have met." In a perfect world, I never would have seen this movie. The biggest flaw is that 20 minutes into this film, Kay Chandler (Kristin Scott Thomas) and Dutch Van Den Broeck (Harrison Ford) are the only two major characters alive; resulting in little doubt that they will end up together at some point during the laborious two-hours-and-then-some production.
Dutch is a sergeant in Internal Affairs at the District of Columbia police department. Kay is a congresswoman from New Hampshire. Although they both think they are happily married, their spouses are cheating with each other behind their backs. Dutch and Kay are soon widowed when a plane goes down carrying their partners; they subsequently discover the affair. The rest of the film is the pointless, unrealistic and often-times boring story of their researching the sexual relationship that they were blind to, and getting to know each other in the process.
Two sub plots are of little help to the already problematic film. Dutch is trying to arrest a fellow officer, a task that seems rather ordinary for Hollywood fare. All the great stereotypes get pulled, including my personal favorite of the key witness that makes bail and is murdered soon thereafter. Kay's distraction from the film's primary focus is her campaign for re-election and attempts to shield her 15 year old daughter from the truth about the father she put on a pedestal. These sub plots could have made for semi-interesting points, but the film seems afraid to explore politics or mother-daughter relations in depth, and consequently suffers.
Random Hearts' two primary characters seem to live in shells. Although both Kay and Dutch are given their own sub plots, they seem to never deal with anyone other than themselves or each other. There is plenty of opportunity, Dutch having a partner and Kay having close friends and her daughter, but the movie shies away from exploring these relationships. Veteran actor and director of this film Sydney Pollack, and critically acclaimed up-and-comer Dylan Baker both have cameo roles, but be careful not to blink too much or you will miss them both.
Other than its weak plot, it is hard to criticize Random Hearts. However, it is also hard to compliment it. Had the film taken some small risks and more fully explored its extra characters and plots it may have tasted more like a well frosted cake, rather than the dry one that equates to be.
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
