Random Hearts

This article is about the film. For the novel, see Random Hearts (novel).

Random Hearts
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Sydney Pollack
Written by	Darryl Ponicsan
Screenplay by	Kurt Luedtke
Produced by	Martin Jurow Marykay Powell
Starring	Harrison Ford Kristin Scott Thomas
Cinematography	Philippe Rousselot
Edited by	William Steinkamp
Music by	Dave Grusin
Production company	Rastar
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	October 8, 1999 (1999-10-08) (USA)
Running time	133 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$64 million
Box office	$74.6 million

Random Hearts is a 1999 American romantic drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas. Based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Warren Adler, the film is about a police officer and a congresswoman who discover that their spouses were having an affair prior to being killed in a air disaster.

Plot

The film adaptation loosely follows the story of the novel, but many of the characters have been changed. Edward Davis is now Sergeant William 'Dutch' Van Den Broeck, a Washington, D.C. police officer. Vivien Simpson is now Kay Chandler, a wealthy Republican Congresswoman with a teenage daughter. They meet when their spouses, Peyton and Cullen, are killed on a Boeing 737 and realize that their partners were having an affair. The story evolves around the relationship between the two surviving spouses, as the tragedy envelopes their lives, and affects his career as a police officer and her campaign for re-election to Congress..

Cast

• Harrison Ford as Sergeant William 'Dutch' Van Den Broeck
• Kristin Scott Thomas as Kay Chandler
• Charles S. Dutton as Alcee
• Bonnie Hunt as Wendy Judd
• Dennis Haysbert as Detective George Beaufort
• Sydney Pollack as Carl Broman
• Richard Jenkins as Truman Trainor
• Paul Guilfoyle as Dick Montoya
• Susanna Thompson as Peyton Van Den Broeck
• Peter Coyote as Cullen Chandler
• Kate Mara as Jessica Chandler
• Susan Floyd as Molly Roll
• Dylan Baker as Richard Judd
• Lynne Thigpen as Phyllis Bonaparte
• Reiko Aylesworth as Mary Claire Clark
• Edie Falco as Janice
• Alex Trebek as Himself

Production

The film was stuck in development hell for fifteen years before finally being made. In the 1980s, actor Dustin Hoffman met with the book's author with a view to making the film. Although Hoffman prompted CBS Theatrical Films to acquire the rights with a view to his starring in the film, Hoffman rejected several drafts of the script before leaving the project altogether. In the early 1990s, Kevin Costner was attached to star in the project, which was then to be directed by James L. Brooks, though this, too, never came to pass.

Filming locations

• Baltimore, Maryland, USA (the outer harbor just off the Key Bridge on I695)
• Bethesda, Maryland, USA
• Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA (hospital, interiors)
• Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA
• Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia, USA (National Airport exterior and interior)
• DuPont Circle, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
• Elmwood Park, New Jersey, USA (bowling alley)
• Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, New York, USA (car crash scene)
• Miami, Florida, USA
• National Hotel, 1677 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, Florida, USA (courtyard and pool scenes)
• National Mall, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
• New York City, New York, USA
• Old Town, Alexandria, Virginia, USA
• Patuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, Maryland, USA (Dutch's Cabin near "Annapolis")
• Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Lexington Park, Maryland, USA (hangar interiors, exterior scenes of flight line and runway)
• Washington, District of Columbia, USA (northeast area)
• Yonkers, New York, USA

Reception

Critical response

Random Hearts was poorly received by critics.

In a positive review from The New York Times, Janet Maslin wrote that the films of Sydney Pollack "have managed to be linear while also drifting thoughtfully through the nuances of their characters' behavior, with a stylistic polish and keenness of observation not often found in American films any more." Maslin also noted that "laconic Ford is wrenchingly effective throughout".

In his review in the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert wrote, "There are so many good things in Random Hearts, but they're side by side instead of one after the other. They exist in the same film, but they don't add up to the result of the film. Actually, the film has no result—just an ending, leaving us with all of those fine pieces, still waiting to come together. If this were a screenplay and not the final product, you could see how with one more rewrite, it might all fall into place."

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively gives the film a rating of 15% based on reviews collected from 87 critics. The film received a 38% approval rating on Metacritic, based on 35 reviews.

Box office

With an estimated budget of $64,000,000, Random Hearts was not a commercial success domestically, earning only $31,502,583 in the United States. The film went on to earn another $43,105,987 in international markets, ending up with a total worldwide gross of $74,608,570.

External links

• Random Hearts at IMDb
• Random Hearts at AllMovie
• Random Hearts at Rotten Tomatoes
• Random Hearts at Box Office Mojo