Random Hearts
Tags: violence

Plot synopsis:
Sergeant William "Dutch" Van Den Broeck (Harrison Ford) is a Washington, D.C., police sergeant who is working on a case involving a crooked detective; he is married to a magazine editor. Kay Chandler (Kristin Scott Thomas) is a congresswoman running for re-election; she is married to a lawyer and has a teenage daughter. A plane bound for Miami crashes, and everyone on board is killed. Dutch realizes that his wife was on the plane, but the airline has no record of her. He believes that she was registered under another name and was having an affair. He finds out that she was sitting next to Kay's husband. Wanting to learn more about the affair, he meets with Kay. Concerned about the publicity, she is not willing to talk and tells him to leave her alone.
Dutch goes to Miami and visits the hotel that his wife was planning to go to. Kay, who has changed her mind, meets with him there. They talk more about the situation. After flying back home, they make out in her car. Dutch goes to a campaign fundraiser for Kay and convinces her to not drop out of the race. He invites her to his cabin near Chesapeake Bay. She visits him, and they have sex. Dutch still wants to know more about the affair and believes that their two spouses had an apartment together, but Kay tells him that they should forget about the past and move on with their lives.
Stressed, Dutch is suspended from his job after assaulting a suspect. He and Kay each find out about the apartment separately. When Dutch goes to visit the apartment, he finds Kay already there cleaning everything out. She leaves, and he chases her into the street, where he is shot by the suspect in his case. He lives, and the suspect is caught. With rumors about their relationship growing, Kay publicly confirms that she and Dutch are friends. Dutch soon gets promoted to lieutenant, and Kay loses her bid for re-election. As she is leaving Washington, Dutch meets her at the airport, and the two are happy to see each other. He asks if he can take her out on a date sometime, and she agrees.

Review: The viewer cannot help but feel what they feel, nor can one help wanting to cheer them when they're together.Yes, there are several action scenes involving angry corrupt cops, but they only spice it up a little, and are not a significant part of the movie.For the lover of music, Dave Grusin provides a superb Jazz based background, featuring trumpeter Terrence Blanchard.
But for those who want to see a lot of what makes us feel inside, watch a beautiful English actress with big expressive blue eyes who can act, like Harrison Ford, to the endless soothing accompaniment courtesy of Dave Grusin and Terrence Blanchard, this is a move to watch with someone you love.
He further discovers that the affair was with the husband of a New England Congresswoman.The story takes on many subplots as Ford and Thomas find themselves drawn together by revelations of their marriages, the uncovering of deceipt, and the pure grief and anger over the loss of a loved one.
I found my interest engaged as the film cut back and forth between Ford's and Thomas's lives as they first found out about, and dealt in very different ways in very different environments with, their spouses' deaths and the subsequent revelation that they were involved with other people.
Having read some of the reviews posted here its a blatantly obvious factSpoilers withinWhat I liked: Kristin Scott Thomas, I think she did a more than decent job here I felt for her character.
Overall I liked this movie I felt the two leads Ford and Scott Thomas did great work.
In the mix of Kristen Scott Thomas running for congress and Harrison Ford being an Internal Affairs cop, these two meet, under unfortunate circumstances and fall in love.
Has there ever been a more dour, dreary and depressing movie romance than "Random Hearts," a film that drones on for 131 grueling minutes and traps two wonderful actors, Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas, in its diabolical clutches?Ford is a police sergeant working in internal affairs and Thomas is a New Hampshire congresswoman whose paths cross when their spouses, who are having a secret affair with each other, die in a plane crash.
Moreover, the film pads out its narrative by constantly cutting away to an irrelevant and wholly underdeveloped subplot involving Ford's pursuit of a murderous cop - a sideshow that results in a completely ludicrous shooting scene that undercuts the seriousness of the film's purpose."Random Hearts" is an obvious and, perhaps, even admirable attempt to bring a more mature, adult-oriented love story to the screen.
The only movie I've seen that it might be likened to is Brief Encounter (the original English version with Trevor Howard, please), but this film is more subtle and interesting than the English classic.Random hearts is a story about two people, a man and a woman, whom the fates have mockingly drawn together for no better reason than their shared nightmare of betrayal, yet as it turns out their very different personalities perfectly complement each other in their efforts to cope and to find the antidote to their poisoned lives - which turns out to be perfect honesty with respect to each other, and integrity with respect to themselves.The movie itself is as honest and integral as its protagonists learn to be.
Overall, the tone is one of somber realism, which creates the ideal backdrop for the subtly dramatic re-emergence of the underlying humanity and vitality of the characters, in the wake of their mutual trauma.I believe my characterization of this movie makes it fairly self-evident why so many Hollywood-conditioned viewers find this movie flat, boring, and unsatisfying, and I suppose that they also feel cheated because this is not a typical Harrison Ford movie, any more than Bridges of Madison County is a typical Clint Eastwood movie.
Yet both of these films are among the best that either actor has ever done.Many seem to see the casting of Kristin Scott Thomas opposite Ford as bizarre, but I see it as brilliant.
**SPOILERS** Overlong and somewhat confusing drama involving an airplane crash, Southern Airline flight from D.C to Miami, where two of the crash victims were cheating on their spouses.It's not much later that one of those being cheated on Washington D.C internal affair police Sgt. Dutch Van Den Broeck, Harrison Ford, got wind from her job that his old lady Peyton, Susanna Thompson, was on a flight to Miami to do a fashion shoot for her employer Sacks 5th Av of Washington D.C. Desperately trying to find out if Peyton was on the doomed flight Ducth not only finds out that she was, through a morgue photo at the crash site, but she was using an assumed name!
Things get even more strange when it's discovered that the late Mr. Chandler's wife, who he's been cheating on, is non other then New Hampshire congresswoman Kay Chandler, Kristin Scott Thomas, who's now in a life and death campaign for reelection!The movie brings the two, Dutch & Kay, together in finding if in fact it's true that they were being cheated on by their marriage partners.
If it was just that the film "Random Hearts" would have made for a pretty good adult love story.
Instead by putting into the film murder drug dealing both police corruption and political chicanery the movie at times was almost impossible to follow!Dutch who should have taken a leave of absent from the D.C Police Department in order for him to overcome his grief goes the exact opposite direction.
As for Kay she had far more pressing problems in the fact if her dead husband's infidelity became public it could very well screw her out of a second term in the US Congress!***SPOILERS*** With the film being much too long, 133 minutes, as well as complicated and confusing you completely lose interest in it at about the one hour mark!
This movie was extremely well acted - the central roles played by Harrison Ford & Kristin Scott Thomas could not have been better casted.
It was craftfully directed, and the story unfolded at an interesting pace - in a manner that both allows and requires you to think about the relationships that surround the pivotal plot event, a plane crash that reveals an illicit affair.
I think this film is excellent.I was amazed by Kristin's acting skills.She made a great job in this film.She played multiply roles really good.As a wife,as a woman,as a mother,as a senator.And the story is also mysterious and sentimental.This film also disscuss about the truth and lie.Do you believe the words what people say?Do you really think what you see is what you get?Do you really understand your wife and husband?When everything become different,what would you do?Do you have enough courage to find out the truth at all costs?I think this movie truly inspired me to think about these questions.And the ending made me feel warm and sweet..
Romance-novel writing gets sluggish treatment, although I thought the performances by leads Harrison Ford and Kristen Scott-Thomas were fine.
Strong performances from Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas make this a good movie.
But perhaps the answer that he must accept is Thomas' reply, `You'll never find what you're looking for.' Sydney Pollack's direction is good, but the film does feel a bit long at times.
Very disappointing- what could have been a very good film, ended up very boring, with awful acting and a bad script..
The concept of two people (internal affairs detective Harrison Ford and US Representative Kristen Scott Thomas) with nothing in common but their respective cheating spouses having just died in the crash of an airliner, and the two strangers being forced to deal with the emotional and physical wreckage, holds about twenty minutes worth of interest in Sydney Pollack's Random Hearts, a 133 minute yawn fest best viewed on TNT (in order to avoid the cost of a rental).
This is an amazingly dull movie.I have admired much of Pollack's work (and he is an engaging character actor whose performance in Tootsie was both pleasing and funny), but Random Hearts is easily one of the dullest pieces of film making I've ever dozed through.
There's no intellectual or sexual tension, no intense interest in finding out the details of the spouses' relationship, and I defy you to care whether or not Ford and Thomas get past their grieving to become a couple.It's all so forced and TVish that I'm not sure why I stuck with it to the ending credits.This is the sort of expensive, glossy junk that talented actors and directors sometimes put out there to suck us in and make for themselves some quick cash.I think it would have been more merciful if the film stock had crashed in the Potomac with the cheating spouses..
This movie told its whole story in the first fifteen minutes and then rode out the last 2 hours reveling in some sort of pseudo-cathartic angst painted up to look like sorrow and passion but, underneath, was nothing but an excuse for Kristin Scott Thomas to look pained and Harrison Ford to mumble a lot.
Good thing that Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas have faces that the camera loves.They are the most unlikeliest of lovers.
Harrison Ford is such a good actor; he leads you into the film and won't let you go.
No viewer can miss what is going to happen next but this review will not tell you just in case someone new to American cinema fears "a spoiler." The acting is so good that the film can hold your interest, but it does not seem to live up to its riveting beginning..
Of all the actresses in film today, Kristin Scott Thomas would be my choice if I had to select one for stranding on a desert island.I could watch her simply, say, sitting in a chair for a couple of hours.
So it's difficult for me to be objective completely with respect to one of her films.However, I did enjoy this movie and its story, per se, more than that indicated by the average ranking among the many persons previously commenting on this site.Harrison Ford is not one of the actors, though, whose performances I enjoy most.
But he's one of a handful who have reached the level of moving from 7 figures to 8 per film, so who am I to argue?Ford though is often droll in his acting style, and sometimes seems to be in serious need of an antacid and a shot of caffeine - and "Random Hearts" is in this grouping.His obsession in probing the losses, which both he and Thomas have endured with regard to their linked spouses, is understandable, given his profession as a detective - but not to the level presented here.
However, most of the scenes after he and Thomas became involved were interesting and well-played.This film could have been a 9*, but I'd lower it a couple of levels, based upon Ford's overall performance, and and another, because it contained a bit more of the extraneous sub-plot elements than seemed required..
I think that the main actors act exactly as if they were involved in a true story.Harrison Ford is really very very good, sincere and human.
Kristin Scott Thomas is very good also, but since it is the first time I see her I don't know if she always act this way..
Both character are brilliantly performed by Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas.
RANDOM HEARTS (1999) **1/2Starring: Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas, Charles Dutton, Bonnie Hunt, Peter Coyote, Dennis Haysbert and Sydney Pollack Director: Sydney Pollack   133 minutes   Rated R (for small amounts of sexuality, violence, and language)By Blake French:	Harrison Ford really is a good actor.
Lets see, besides the would-be mystery involving the affair, the plane crash, the romantic sparks between Kay and Dutch, this film is about: a top secret case which Dutch is in the middle investigating, the heated upcoming election of a candidate running for mayor, Dutch's stolen watch, the murder of a witness, the turmoil a mother and daughter go through when their father dies, best friend cheating on each other's spouses and always being there to save the day, a drive by shooting, the lack of humility, competition, reputation, identity...Brought to you by Columbia Pictures..
Let me see, it stars....Harrison Ford...zzzzzzzzzz...oh, sorry...and Kristin Scott...Thomas...zzzzzzzzzz....ummh, what movie are we discussing here?
Although I am a huge Ford fan, this movie would be totally unwatchable without Kristin Scott Thomas...she carries the day.
When the film finally ended (I think it was twelve hours long, but I'm not sure), I let out an exhasperated "Thank You Jesus, It's Over!!", to which all other movie goers cheered.
Nothing could be more appealing than the idea of a good love story featuring Kristin Scott Thomas and Harrison Ford.
Well, there is one ghetto style "drive by" scene where Harrison almost gets killed, but it's so abrupt and unexplained it's really more like welcome comic relief.The sky is always gray in this movie, and our refined, lovely Kristin always looks a little chilled.
Harrison Ford ( Sergeant Van De Broeck,'Dutch'),"What Lies Beneath 2000", was an Internal Affairs cop who had to find out just WHY his wife had an affair with another man, after she just made love to him only hours before she visited her other lover.
Harrison Ford, as always, gave a complex and stirring performance and I was enthralled by Kristin Scott Thomas, who I had never seen before..
I've noticed one thing in the love scene between Ford's character and Kristen Scott Thomas'.
Great movie, great plot, and a perfect performance for Harrison Ford, Charles S.
When something very bad happens to you, you do feel confused and battered, and the lead characters in Random Hearts reflect this well.The criminal sub-plot does feel a bit redundant, like it's strayed in from another film.
The only distant connection to the plot is the fact that Kay and Dutch are together during the shootout with the bad cop.As filmmaking, this film is first rate as would be expected from Sydney Pollack.
The one line towards the end where Scott Thomas tells the press how the cop had been her friend, seen her thru a tough time when she needed it, how they were 'survivors' - all that rings completely hollow and doesn't match the film, which simply depicts a romance.
This film is absolutely perfect.I find it's story unbelievable.And all the small details on this film make me give a 10 to it.Go and buy this great movie now.When you are watching this film ; please be careful at the wonderful playing of Harrison Ford and lovely Kristin Scott Thomas.We can always have things like that in the real world..
In "Random Hearts," he and Kristin Scott Thomas portray some deeper and more conflicted emotions, not the stuff of the shallow action movies.
Harrison Ford is a police detective, and Kristin Scott Thomas is a congresswoman, and they both discover that their spouses, after having died in a plane crash, had a long standing love affair.
RANDOM HEARTS, directed by the brilliant Sydney Pollack (who has a small role in the film too) is another Harrison Ford vehicle.
If you like Harrison Ford, you probably shouldn't see this movie.
This also has to be said of the two principals, Kristin Scott-Thomas and Harrison Ford, both of whom I usually enjoy.
This film was sappy, slow paced, boring, unoriginal, wooden and did I say boring?Harrison Ford was probably trying to be mysterious and crude, but he was just a crawling, mumbling cop that seemed to walk into the congress-woman's home like everything was fine, when he behaved like a pervert - staring at Thomas with a pervy glare, hardly ever bothering to speak.And why the hell do they always get British actors to put on crappy accents - they're casted because they're famous, and everybody knows they're british precisely because they're famous!.
Did they figure that with Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas that it would be a huge hit.
I really like Harrison Ford so I eagerly rented this movie only to be disappointed minute after minute.
I would watch some preview scenes, advertisements, I would know, Sidney Pollack directed it, Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas starring in.
I am interested in the subject, and I like Harrison Ford in the films which are not actions.
Basic of these films is development of a love.I think Random Heart is a nice and interesting film in its own way.It may be true that the sublots -the congress election and the cop's investigation after a corrupt policeman- are not written well, are not worked out in details but add something to the leading woman and man character.After his wife's death and betrayal emotion, angry of Dutch comes to the surface during his work.
Anyway I advice the people who like energetic plots with action scenes, who like only Ford's action films miss this movie..
The plot line is that Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas have both lost their spouses to a plane crash.
The movie does have an interesting side-plot about Ford (who plays an internal affairs officer) chasing and catching a bad cop.
Kristin Scott Thomas was so-so in her role.I won't go so far as to say this is the worst movie I've ever seen---I'll save that honor for the Blair Witch Project---but I think only true Harrison Ford fans would really enjoy this one.
Harrison Ford ALWAYS gets to play the cool characters in the cool movies, right?
That's how Harrison Ford looks in the movie Random Hearts.
Kristin Scott Thoomas and Harrison Ford are both wonderful actors, but this movie has nothing to it, it's flat and lifeless.