Boetie and Sussie went to the DVD store tonight to choose a DVD. They came back, triumphantly brandishing “Random Hearts“. This was after they had asked the chap on duty an entire five times (he should get a medal for patience) whether we had already seen this movie or that movie.
Turns out that we have seen a whopping 270 movies since first moving to this neighbourhood about 3 years ago and taking out our first contract there. If we were movie connoisseurs, that would be pretty impressive, but as we’re not, it’s probably a sad reflection of our lack of a social life.
Anyhow, Random Hearts is a movie adaptation dating back to 1999. The director was Sydney Pollack, and the two lead roles are played by somewhat crinkly hunk Indiana Jones / Harrison Ford with short-short grey hair, and the lovely and talented Kristin Scott Thomas. Both of them display an impressive emotional range in this movie.
Harrison is Sergeant “Dutch” van den Broeck, a Washington DC police officer, whereas Kristin is Kay Chandler, who is running for re-election to Congress as a Republican congresswoman. Both are married, and completely unaware of the fact that their respective spouses (Peyton and Cullen) have been conducting an affair over an extended period of time. Fate (the divine hand of justice?) intervenes in the form of a plane crash, in which Peyton and Cullen are killed. Dutch, a police detective through and through, starts to investigate the case and thus meets Kay. The movie explores the rather complex and emotionally fragile relationship that develops between them. Each has to reassess what they actually knew for certain about their respective spouses, and to deal with all the conflicting emotions (anger, hurt, betrayal, loss, love, loyalty…) that now well up.
Even though it wasn’t a hit at the box office – probably because there wasn’t enough gratuitous violence in it – all three of us agreed that it was a really good and beautifully put together movie. Definitely worth seeing.
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For other movies we’ve watched in March, click on:
Grains of Sand 