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Average Rating:
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Duo Noir
Random Hearts was a difficult film for me to enjoy. It was so heart-wrenching to watch as two basically nice people are blind-sided by circumstance and painfully drawn to each other as if they had no other choice. It was not my notion of `fun.'
Sydney Pollack's work seems to be well cast in both its primary and secondary roles. I'm a fan of most all these people. Harrison Ford is "Dutch" Van Den Broeck, a D.C. police sergeant with Internal Affairs. Kristin Scott Thomas is New Hampshire Congresswoman Kay Chandler. Charlie Dutton, Dennis Haysbert, Richard Jenkins, and Mr Pollack himself fill a few of the lesser and -- except for maybe Dutton as Alcee-mainly disinteresting roles. Outside of Alcee and Kay, it was difficult to care about anyone in this film.
Despite the beautiful color, this is a film noir after the style of the 30s-50s. It does have more action and outdoor sequences which really require the color but, with some judicious re-writing, this could have been a brilliant piece in Black and White. The darkness of it all is emphasized by the arcane Jazz undertones in the musical score.
Van Den Broeck's wife and Chandler's husband are killed in a plane crash. Apparently, they were on their way to Miami together and had probably done this before. There are more questions than answers as Dutch and Kay deal with the shock of their respective spouse's deaths. They contort emotionally with stunned, angry and hurt feelings within as they slowly unravel the affair.
Both principals look for answers in their own way. Kay wants to drop it, forget it and move on, hopefully protecting her daughter and the dignity of her office along the way. Dutch would like to know more about the dead couple: how they met, their plans, their secretive interest in the Tango, etc.
There are sub-plots that, for me, totally got in the way. The police story seems pointless but I suppose that it's necessary to balance with the equally banal re-election race. Both provide context and perhaps help to move the action along. Maybe they are also supposed to remind us that life continues, however roughed-up we might be.
There are three lines that I find particularly significant. Two are made by Kay, the first when she goes to be with Dutch at his cabin on the inlet just off Chesapeake Bay:
"I'm not going to make any small talk, `cause I don't want there to be junk between us."
The second after Dutch is shot by a rogue cop (Haysbert) and lies in Hospital recovering:
"We did OK Dutch. We did the best we could under the circumstances."
The third line belongs to Dutch and is addressed to Kay earlier in the film:
"What's the last thing that you remember about you and your husband that you know was true?"
Lines don't have to be magisterial to be meaningful. These are minimal but quite good. There are some others as well. (I'm also partial to "Don't! Just Drive.")
I know the movie ran a bit long but I think there should have been more footage in the forest. It was so lovely.
After consultation with myself, Two Stars. It would have been Three if he'd gotten the girl.
Russell de Ville
14 April 2006
Rating: 
-
You keep looking for a reason why. There is no why.
For those of you out there that have completely destroyed this film with your words, I suggest revisiting Random Hearts post-9/11. While I hate to use that dreadful moment in our history as a staple for this review, one cannot help but consider the connections and possibilities between the fictitious story of this film and those unthinkable WTC events. Director Sydney Pollack has done a fabulous job of adapting a story that is both suspenseful, creative, and full of human emotion. He did a superb job of casting both Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott-Thomas who engulf these sinister characters and bring that much-needed emotion to the screen. His music seems cheesy at times, yet draws you into some scenes the next. With all of these great elements coming together for Random Hearts, why is it that so many people have rated this film low? My response to that has to do with seeing this film in a completely different light. There were elements that I thought were brilliant, yet needed to have some thought involved. Harrison Ford was one of these elements, as well as Pollack's use of airports throughout the film. Let me explain.
I saw Harrison Ford as this very evil character in this film. Perhaps this was not the tone that Pollack was hoping to create with Random Hearts, but it was what I witnessed when I watched it. When you watch it, see if you see it as well. Throughout the film Ford pushes Thomas into what he wants. He invades her life, rummages through her personal moments, and even seduces her to discover more information. He is the one most hurt by this disaster, and it turns him dark. While most will argue that the event brought these two hearts together, I think Ford's character was weaker than we imagined. He needed that comfort level that his wife provided and found it with Thomas. He wasn't going to stop until he was with her and found out everything he could about his cheating wife. Ford was creepy to me in this film. While I think Kristin Scott-Thomas did an outstanding job countering this insanity that Ford brought with him, it was really Ford that captured the aura of the film. Thomas was like a child being lead throughout the mall by her determined father. Broken, hurt, destroyed, and even paranoid were all elements that were creeping into Ford's life, and he had no clue how to handle them, so he attached himself to Thomas ... perhaps more than he should have.
Take Ford's powerful character and Thomas' weakened version of Kay and throw in Pollack's mastermind and you honestly have an amazing film. The scenes that really blew my mind in this film were how Pollack continually brought Ford and Thomas back into the airport. It was because of an airport that these two random strangers met, now throughout the film, they have some of their toughest moments back in that same airport. When they return of Miami sparks a new chapter for both of them, the scene where they both are flying, but cannot be seen together was beautifully awkward and dark, then at the end when they meet together for the climax, it felt a bit stalker-ish to me. Ford was spooky, nearly saying that he cannot continue life without Thomas' comfort. His final speech was supposed to be happy, but to me came across as very wimpy and boarding on lunacy. It was amazing.
While the background stories seem to mesh well, I honestly could have done with less of Thomas' story of trying to win an election, and pushed more of Ford's story of how the loss of his wife was destroying his career. I thought this was a really interesting segway that should have been explored more. I wanted to see the fall of Ford, and I think he was just about there. I wanted to see him break down and really turn into this Hitchcockian character. I wanted to really see him corrupt his life because his persistence on detail created this flawed marriage. There was so much more that should have been done with Ford's character, that I was continually biting my nails hoping that Pollack would take that Requiem for a Dream direction. Alas, he did not, I am not sure if it was because he was trying to attract a different audience or what, but Pollack had a dark film on his hands, sadly, he just didn't push that envelope that far.
Overall, as odd that this may sound, I was impressed with this film. I believe this was one of those rare Hollywood instances where they had the chance to really scare us with some backwards characters, but instead changed to this high road of "romance" and "drama". I saw this film as a very disturbing film thanks to the work of Harrison Ford. I am not sure if this was the direction either he or Pollack saw the film going, but it is what I experienced in my viewing. I really suggest you go back and see this film with its darker undertones. I may be pulling this out of nowhere, but to me Ford was spooky, Thomas was this pushover that Ford manipulated, and Pollack had a masterpiece before his time. Random Hearts was an unexpected film that I cannot wait to watch again!
Grade: **** out of *****
Rating: 
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An Under-Appreciated Gem
I loved this movie with its reflective ambience. The music was beautiful, the acting excellent, and I appreciate its subtleties more each time I watch it. I also thought the script was well-written and interesting, and with an added "action" dimension, as Ford's character simultaneously pursues his duties as an internal-affairs cop.
To Harrison, Kristen, and Sidney: ignore the jaded critics and impatient whiners clamoring for their next adrenaline fix - you have produced a marvelous work.
Unfortunately, the box-office scorecard (aka: $$) rules when it comes to sequels.
(I own the DVD and have also bought the soundtrack CD)
Rating: 
-
Very under-rated
I approached "Random Hearts" with caution. I have begun looking into Sydney Pollack's filmography, and this was just one from the pile. He had disappointed me with "Havana" and "The Interpreter" lately and this one had quite a few bad reviews to weigh it down.
It is not a perfect film, but it was an interesting examination of grief, loss, betrayal, and a strange route to recovery.If anything, it tries to do too much, that subplot about police corruption is absolutely needless, it has all the story it can handle already. Most romances are made good because of the chemistry between the two leads. Here the opposite is true, Ford and Scott-Thomas are anything but perfect for each other, and their personality conflicts make for pretty compelling drama despite stilted dialogue. They process the tragedy quite differently, and true to the spirit of the film, nothing is really resolved. They both end-up with a tenous grip on the reality of what happened. They took what they needed from each other, and benefitted from the relationship they managed to carve out of their mutual heartbreak. Anything more will have to wait. It''s refreshing to see that all was not repaired by the end titles.
The performances were wonderfully understated, Harrison Ford only does his trademark angry yell once and opts to be brooding and broken instead.
The score is a delight.
Rent "Random Hearts" its a film that offers no easy answers and that is rare today.
Also, it deserves extra points for winning me over despite the fact I was expecting an entirely different premise. I seem to remember a preview that suggested Ford's wife switched tickets with Scott-Thomas.
Rating: -
NICE TRY, BUT.....
Director Sydney Pollack and screenwriter Kurt Luedke (sp) collaborated on the Oscar winning epic OUT OF AFRICA, which I found to be rather dull and uninspiring. They re-united for this romantic drama focusing on Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas. He's a maverick cop; she's running for Congress. Seems that their spouses were having an affair and they are both victims of a plane crash. The movie focuses on Ford's inability to accept the affair, while Thomas wants to move on with her life. They fall in love, sort of, and the rest of the movie is how they deal with this. A subplot involving dirty cops seems to serve no real purpose, but it does give Charles Dutton and Dennis Haysbert some choice scenes. Dave Grusin's haunting score helps the movie and there is some beautiful shots of a snowy DC, but ultimately the movie's merely a showcase for the stars' performances, which are good considering the material they've been given.
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