ROLL-M: Movie Review

By Susan Sackett

Random Hearts (starring Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Peter Coyote, Susanna Thompson; written by Karl Luedtke, based on the novel by Warren Adler; directed by Sydney Pollack; rated R -- some violence, sexuality, language).

Harrison Ford fans who rushed out to see Random Hearts are by now crying in their Han Solo coffee mugs. This film has a great cast, but there is not a molecule of chemistry between the two principles. Kristin Scott Thomas, last seen in The Horse Whisperer and fondly remembered for her outstanding job in The English Patient, spends most of the movie bitching at her would-be suitor Ford.

Setup has Ford and Thomas as widower/widow of two trysting spouses, the latter secretly heading out of Washington, D.C. for a weekend frolic in Miami. But their plane takes a nosedive into the bay at about the same time the movie also tanks. The survivors meet and take an immediate dislike toward each other. This goes on for at least an hour and fifteen, until these two bereaved souls suddenly throw themselves into each other’s arms. My guess is someone in the production office decided it was time to give the fans what they came to the theatre to see. Of course, right after this, they go back to their mutual animosity society.

And so it goes. Eventually, they end up in the sack. Quelle surprise. The movie plods along endlessly, pointlessly, until the audience wishes Ford and Thomas had also taken that fateful Miami flight, along with the usually sharp director, Sydney Pollack (Tootsie; Out of Africa -- also doing an acting bit here).

Caution: do not drive or operate heavy machinery after viewing Random Hearts.

ONE/HALF OWL (OUT OF FIVE)