That rarest of movies, a moribund Harrison Ford vehicle, stodgily dull, and seemingly endless in its monotony.
Random Hearts (1999)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:87
Fresh:13
Rotten:74
Average Rating:4/10
Consensus: Even Harrison Ford could not save the dull plot and the slow pacing of the movie.
Runtime: 2 hrs 13 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis:
Dutch Van Den Broeck, a sergeant in the Internal Affairs Division of the Washington, D.C. police department, and Kay Chandler, a New Hampshire congresswoman running for re-election, know about...
Dutch Van Den Broeck, a sergeant in the Internal Affairs Division of the Washington, D.C. police department, and Kay Chandler, a New Hampshire congresswoman running for re-election, know about trust. Their careers depend on it. Their marriages are founded on it. Or so they thought. When an airplane carrying Dutch’s wife Peyton and Kay’s husband Cullen crashes into the Chesapeake Bay, leaving no survivors, it marks just the beginning of a mystery that will not only lead Dutch and Kay to disturbing and shocking information about their spouses, but bring these strangers together in an unlikely romance.
In the aftermath of the crash, pieces of startling information come to light—Cullen and Peyton were sitting side by side on the plane, traveling on "Mr. and Mrs." tickets and carrying identical keys in their pockets. Grief-stricken spouses Dutch and Kay—a pair of opposites from widely dissimilar backgrounds and with very contradictory temperaments—are now thrown together, bonded by this mutual betrayal, to unlock the truth behind the secret that threatens to destroy them.
Dutch, a policeman to the core, investigates. Kay, left with a teenage daughter to protect and a campaign to run, doesn’t want to know any more than she absolutely has to. As clues lead from the gritty streets of D.C. to the romance of Miami’s beaches, both the cop and the congresswoman are caught in an upheaval of misplaced lust and rage, laying bare not only the details of their spouses’ clandestine affair, but their own awkward and painful feelings. Out of the ruins of their shattered marriages, this pair of random hearts forms a volatile new union.
Starring: Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Bonnie Hunt, Dennis Haysbert
Starring: Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Bonnie Hunt, Dennis Haysbert, Sydney Pollack, Charles S. Dutton
Director: Sydney Pollack
Director: Sydney Pollack
Screenwriter: Kurt Luedtke
Producer: Marykay Powell
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Reviews for Random Hearts
The film's stoic stare at personal crisis provides little opportunity for audiences to embrace either characters or subject matter.
This sluggish adaptation of Warren Adler's heavily altered novel might have gotten by on just Scott Thomas's luminosity.
The script is heavy-handed and dull, and Sydney Pollack's direction is leaden.
Pollack lingers over the details of the plane crash, and the dialogue is a series of morose retro howlers.
[Ford] plays every emotion squarely and thuddingly, as if he were a heavyweight hitting the bag.
It's intermittently moving but ultimately bloodless, reflecting the lack of a strong screenplay.
Random Hearts is disappointing mostly because it didn't have to get this absurd.
The film has no result--just an ending, leaving us with all of those fine pieces, still waiting to come together.
Pollack is too polished and professional a filmmaker to produce an unwatchable product; he's also too polished and professional a filmmaker to delve into those dark places where the film needed to live.
It's frustrating to come across a picture that at least offers a fresh angle on a tired old theme, then have to struggle to stay awake through it.
A meandering mystery - drama - romance that never hits the right groove.
Latest News for Random Hearts
February 09, 2006:
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An incompetent French detective ("The Pink Panther"). Eight million ways to die ("Final Destination 3"). Harrison Ford looking frantic, then looking really,... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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