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Movies / On DVD / Random Hearts
Random Hearts

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Random Hearts (1999)

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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. [More]

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

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Random Hearts

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A failure of a romantic drama.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/27/08
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This might have been tailor-made by director Pollack to ease Ford into more straightforwardly romantic territory.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
03/24/02
Boston Phoenix
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
10/18/08
Boxoffice Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
10/18/08
Mac Verstandig
Mac Verstandig
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Too long and overwrought for even the most romantically inclined.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ford gives such a stoic, straight-faced performance that he borders on being dull.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Brandon
Christopher Brandon
TNT's Rough Cut

Utterly disappointing.

Full Review Source: CinemaSense.Com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Cornell & Petricelli
Cornell & Petricelli
CinemaSense.Com

The heat generated by these two attractive stars barely rises above room temperature.

Full Review Source: Newsweek | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Ansen
David Ansen
Newsweek

This is 131 minutes of funereal waste.

Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune | comment Comment
01/01/00
David Elliott
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune

Almost everything that is wrong with the Hollywood system can be found here.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post

Random Hearts has one half of terrific material, and then resorts to the ultimate betrayal: formulaic filmmaking.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

There's nothing new here, just the same plot, the same romantic pattern that we keep seeing over and over.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Edward Guthmann
Edward Guthmann
San Francisco Chronicle

Overlong by a mile, this latest romantic non-thriller from director-actor Sydney Pollack is Hollywood’s gift to cure insomnia.

Full Review Source: Nitrate Online | comment Comment
01/01/00
Elias Savada
Elias Savada
Nitrate Online

Sydney Pollack has made an interesting premise boring as dry plaster.

comment Comment
01/01/00
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

There are some good moments that take an honest look at the aftermath of both infidelity and the loss of a loved one. Too bad these moments are too often lost in the clutter.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

Scott Thomas' haughtiness proves more annoying than touching.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
01/01/00
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

When all is said and done, Random Hearts proves to be a bona fide disaster.

Full Review Source: Houston Community Newspapers | comment Comment
01/01/00
Gary Brown
Gary Brown
Houston Community Newspapers

The movie's deliberate pace, along with some rather strained attempts to build romance out of disaster, winds up sabotaging its aims.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
01/01/00
Glenn Whipp
Glenn Whipp
Los Angeles Daily News

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Greg's Previews at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Greg Dean Schmitz
Greg Dean Schmitz
Greg's Previews at Yahoo! Movies
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 >> >|
all

Latest News for Random Hearts

February 09, 2006: Critical Consensus: Critics Not Tickled "Pink"
An incompetent French detective ("The Pink Panther"). Eight million ways to die ("Final Destination 3"). Harrison Ford looking frantic, then looking really,... More...

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