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"'Hearts'
Not Afire"
by Scott Mantz
"Random Hearts"
Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas
Directed by Sydney Pollack
This has not
been a good year for some of the maverick film directors of the
70's. While cinematic legends like Kubrick, Lucas, and Scorsese
all released films ranging from the good ("Eyes Wide Shut"), the
bad ("Star Wars: The Phantom Menace"), and the ugly ("Bringing Out
the Dead"), one thing is for sure. Critically, their best days are
behind them. Unfortunately, you can add another director to the
mix. Marred by a slow pace, dull characters, and a dated premise,
"Random Hearts" is clearly not the film to put director Sydney Pollack
back on top after the disappointing "Sabrina". Even Harrison Ford's
name on the marquee can't ensure a healthy box office beyond it's
first weekend.
Washington DC
internal affairs cop Dutch Van Den Broeck (Harrison Ford) meets
congresswoman Kay Chandler (Kristin Scott Thomas) under devastating
circumstances when their spouses are killed in an air disaster.
After some investigation, Dutch realizes that the dead spouses were
having and affair and confronts Kay with the revelation. He wants
answers, and she wants to forget about the whole thing. What do
they do to deal with their grief? Why, have an affair of their own,
of course! Things get messy, and Kay's re-election campaign is threatened
when they are seen together in public.
There's no question
that Harrison Ford has had an exceptional career, especially when
it comes to playing CIA agents, space hotshots, and adventurous
archaeologists. However, when it comes to playing romantic leads,
his career has been more inconsistent. Lately, his disappointments
("Six Days, Seven Nights", "The Devil's Own", "Sabrina") outweigh
his hits ("The Fugitive", Air Force One"). He shines as the every-man
thrust into unusual circumstances, but there is nothing unusual
about adultery in the 90's. In "Random Hearts", Ford gives his most
uninspired performance to date. He crawls through the film brooding,
sulking, and looking miserable. When he finally discovers the truth,
it doesn't make sense for him to keep looking for more answers.
Unfortunately, that's the movie.
Kristin Scott
Thomas burst onto the scene in the smash "Four Weddings and a Funeral",
but she got serious notices as the doomed lover to Ralph Feinnes
in "The English Patient". Unfortunately, she has yet to play another
meaty role, and she follows her dreary, sappy romantic lead in "The
Horse Whisperer" with another dreary, sappy romantic lead. With
her sophisticated beauty and intelligent demeanor, she certainly
looks like a politician. It's just too bad there's nothing for her
to chomp on and sink her teeth into.
In most cases,
the addition of subplots give the main characters more depth and
add weight to the film as a whole. In this case, they just weigh
the film down. Ford's sub-story about a crooked colleague could
have been completely eliminated, and you would never know it was
missing. The conflict of Thomas being involved with Ford is touchy,
but it is never examined to it's full potential.
The tagline
for the film is "in a perfect world, they never would have met".
Well, maybe they should have kept it that way. While Ford and Thomas
certainly look good together, they spend way too much time gazing
into each other's eyes and consoling each other. Simply put, it
gets boring. They have nothing in common beyond their grief, and
when they're together, that's all they talk about. When they finally
follow through with their passion (in a car, of all places), it
comes out of nowhere and is almost laughable.
Among other
things, "Hearts" is weighed down by a plot that just isn't relevant
in today's day and age. With it's adulterous theme, it feels like
it would have been right at home had it come out in 1985. The last
time I checked it was 1999, and adultery is old news . Since his
son died in a plane crash in 1993, it makes sense why Pollack was
drawn to the 15 year old screenplay. However, one lesson to be learned
by the finished product is, even if you put your heart into it,
some films are better left unmade.
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