Forgotten Film Friday: Random Hearts

A retrospective by Brooks Rich

This is a forgotten romantic drama from 1999 that is unfairly maligned in my opinion. Sure it's not the greatest work for cinematic art ever but it's an interesting story with a stellar cast working under the skilled eye of Sydney Pollack. It might be a little long but Random Hearts is a solid film in my opinion.

Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas play the spouses of two people having an affair. When their spouses die in a plane crash while on their way to a romantic rendezvous in Miami, Ford and Scott are left to pick up the pieces. However, they clash as Scott wants to move on and focus on her campaign to win re-election in her congressional race and Ford wants to know why this happened.

I love how this is a romantic film told as if it's a mystery. But it's not about finding out if the spouses are having an affair. It's about finding out why. Ford and Scott bring gravitas to their roles. They are the standouts here, especially Ford, who in this stage of his career is starting to branch out into different roles than the strong-jawed hero. He is embracing his role as an older guy now.

My slight issue with the film is the main story and Scott's election efforts don't always gel with Ford's subplot involving his work as a sergeant in the Internal Affairs department of the police department. Not to say that the subplot is bad. It's a good story. It just sometimes feels like Pollack is making another movie. But that's a minor quibble. The rest of the film is solid and I think worth a watch.

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