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(About Our Ads) "RANDOM HEARTS" (1999) (Harrison Ford, Kristin Scott Thomas) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Moderate Moderate Extreme Mild Moderate Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Minor None Mild None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy Minor Moderate Mild Heavy QUICK TAKE: Drama: A romance buds between a police officer and a congresswoman after they discover that their spouses, who both died in a plane accident, were having an affair. PLOT: Dutch Van Den Broeck (HARRISON FORD) is a sergeant with the Internal Affairs division of the Washington, D.C. police department. Married to wife Peyton (SUSANNA THOMPSON), Dutch is good at his job and currently is working with his partner, Alcee (CHARLES S. DUTTON), trying to bust a cop, Detective George Beaufort (DENNIS HAYSBERT), who's gone bad. Kay Chandler (KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS) is a New Hampshire congresswoman who's running for reelection. While her husband, Cullen (PETER COYOTE) goes off to New York on business, Kay works with her assistants, Wendy (BONNIE HUNT) and Richard Judd (DYLAN BAKER) and media consultant, Carl Broman (SYDNEY POLLACK) on her campaign. Dutch and Kay couldn't come from more distant worlds, but when the two learn that their respective spouses died together on a plane bound for Miami, they're suddenly thrust together in a sea of questions, grief and anger. That's because Dutch, whose sleuthing ways are completely ingrained in his persona, discovers that their spouses were having an affair. As Kay tries to distance herself from this revelation not only to protect her teenage daughter, Jessica (KATE MARA) but also her own reelection campaign, Dutch becomes obsessed with learning every detail and answering every last question about the fair. While the two initially don't get along, their repeated encounters into discovering the truth soon generate some romantic sparks between them. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? Unless they're fans of either Ford or Thomas, it's highly unlikely that this film will be of much interest to most kids. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For brief violence, sexuality and language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: HARRISON FORD plays an internal affairs cop who becomes obsessed with finding out everything he can about his late wife and her affair with Kay's husband, as well as busting a bad cop. During this, he drinks and cusses some, and briefly gets into a fight with the bad cop he's investigating while pushing the boundaries of his police activity. He also has sex with Kay. KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS plays a congresswoman who wants to put everything about her husband's death and affair with Dutch's wife behind her. She ends up falling for Dutch and having sex with him and briefly uses strong profanity. CHARLES S. DUTTON plays Dutch's partner who's concerned about his increasingly errant behavior. DENNIS HAYSBERT plays the bad cop who apparently has a witness killed and tries to do the same to Dutch. PETER COYOTE and SUSANNA THOMPSON play the two spouses who were having an affair. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a quick look at the content found in this R-rated drama. Violence consists of an onscreen shooting (resulting in a wounding), an off-screen murder, an off-screen plane accident that kills a great deal of people and some brief fighting. Some of those scenes (including the ones featuring briefly seen dead and/or bloody bodies) may be unsettling for viewers, and some tense family moments involve grieving family members (from the plane wreck) as well as those reacting to the discovery of spousal affairs. Those spouses, as well as a bad cop demonstrate bad attitudes. Profanity is rated as heavy due to at least 1 use of the "f" word, along with slang sexual terms, other profanities and a few colorful phrases. The two lead characters end up having sex, but all we see is passionate kissing, groping and very brief and mostly shadowed nudity. Some sexually related comments also occur. Beyond all of that and a moderate amount of drinking, the film's remaining categories have little or nothing in the way of major objectionable content. As always, however, should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed content listings. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE We see some wine on a table. George has a shot of liquor in front of him and we see a bartender drink a shot of his own. Dutch has a beer in a bar, as do others. Dutch has a drink with another person, while Broman and others have drinks in a separate location. Kay has a drink. Dutch pushes away an empty glass upon receiving another drink, while Kay then has a drink. We see that both Dutch and Kay have had several mini-bottles of liquor on their airplane flight. People have drinks at a bowling alley. It looks like Dutch has had a drink. People have drinks at a political reception. Dutch and Kay have beer with dinner. Dutch has a drink at his cabin. People have wine with lunch, including Kay and Wendy. Dutch has a beer and then does so later at an airport bar. BLOOD/GORE The sight of Peyton and Cullen hanging upside down and underwater, as well as later morgue glimpses of their dead bodies may be unsettling to some viewers. We see a dead and bloody body in a trash truck and more blood in a dumpster. Dutch's leg is bloody after he's shot there (and blood squirts out from the impact). DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE A young female suspect has both toward Dutch in a defiant sense. George is a corrupt cop who will stop at nothing to clear his name, including killing or attempting to kill others and he also leaves a threatening message for Dutch. Dutch and Kay's spouses had both for having affairs and lying to them. One of Peyton's former coworkers states that she was having an affair at the same time she found her husband having one. On duty, Dutch illegally lets himself into a witness' home. Kay learns that her friend, Wendy, also had an affair with her husband. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" may also be tense to some viewers. Dutch finds a bar owner with his shotgun aimed at George who's a corrupt cop. He then takes an ankle gun from George who was preparing to use it against both Dutch and the bar owner. The sight of Peyton and Cullen hanging upside down and underwater, as well as later morgue glimpses of their dead bodies may be unsettling to some viewers. We see George preparing to come after Dutch and notice that he has his gun at the ready. He then drives by and shoots Dutch in the leg. GUNS/WEAPONS Gun: Reported to have been found in a young female suspect's locker (not seen). Shotgun: Aimed by a bar owner at a corrupt cop. Handgun: Used by George to shoot and wound Dutch. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "Chicken sh*t," "Screwing" and "Getting it on" (both sexual), "Nut case," "Screw up," "Sorry ass," "Crazy old bastard" and "Nuts" (crazy). A young woman has a pierced eyebrow. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A mild amount of suspenseful music occurs late in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 1 "f" word, 5 "s" words, 4 slang terms for sex ("screwing"), 8 hells, 5 asses (2 used with "hole"), 4 S.O.B.s, 1 damn and 4 uses each of "G-damn" and "God," 2 of "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "Swear to God," "My God," "Jesus Christ" and "Oh Christ" as exclamations. SEX/NUDITY Peyton tells Dutch, "If you're just killing time..." while she suggestively plays with her robe. Later, Dutch tells Kay that he and his wife made love that morning. Wanting to know what the competition might dig up, Broman asks Kay if she fools around, calling it "the old slap and tickle." Wendy asks Kay "What does your sex life have to do with saving social security?" She then asks about Kay's husband and whether she thinks he'll be the last man she ever sleeps with. Kay makes a comment to Dutch, "Before you stopped by to tell me my husband was screwing your wife..." Wendy shows some cleavage. A woman tells the story of coming home early and hearing her husband and another woman together in their shower. We see some models in their underwear at a photo shoot (showing some cleavage). There, Dutch asks a photographer, "Did you ever sleep with Peyton?" causing the man to walk away. We some Latin style "dirty dancing" where a woman runs her bare thing up alongside a man's body. Dutch and Kay make out in her car at the airport. As such, they passionately kiss and he puts his hand on her clothed butt. As this continues and due to the way it's shot, we can't always tell where their hands are. About a photo of her and Dutch together, Broman tells Kay, "Honk if you're screwing him." We see some more passionate making out between Kay and Dutch. She then unbuttons his shirt and he runs his hand down along her clothed breasts and then undoes her pants and runs his hand down inside just the top of them. He then starts to pull down part of her underwear and then lifts up her shirt (we see her bare back and the side of her breast in the shadows). He then climbs on top of her on the bed with more kissing (in a head and shoulders shot). Thus, it's suggested they have sex. As Dutch asks Kay if she could take it all back (about her husband) he includes the line, "Him screwing her." Kay asks Dutch is he was ever tempted to cheat on Peyton. He admits that he was tempted, but never did anything. A reporter asks Kay if her husband was "getting it on" with Dutch's wife. She replies that he was. SMOKING A bar owner and a cop smoke. TENSE FAMILY SCENES Dutch and Kay grieve over the deaths of their spouses, and we see family members of other victims similarly grieving. Jessica is upset when she figures out that her dad was having an affair. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT People who have affairs and the way in which their spouses react upon learning about that. VIOLENCE An accidental plane wreck kills more than one hundred people (we don't see the impact, only the aftermath). Dutch finds a bar owner with his shotgun aimed at George who's a corrupt cop. He then takes an ankle gun from George who was preparing to use it against both Dutch and the bar owner. We see that bar owner dead and bloodied in the back of a trash truck. In a parked car, Kay starts hitting Dutch and then bites him as he tries to restrain her. This brief violence, however, quickly turns to passion as the two then start making out. After Dutch receives a threatening phone message from George, Dutch heads down to a bowling alley. There, he picks up a bowling ball, punches one guy in the face and then throws the ball at George who catches it in the gut. Dutch then starts punching him and others and has to be pulled away and restrained. George then gets in a few punches of his own back on Dutch. Dutch grabs Alcee and pushes him back against a car. We hear Dutch breaking something in a bathroom. We see George preparing to come after Dutch and notice that he has his gun at the ready. He then drives by and shoots Dutch in the leg. Some cars then crash into each other as Alcee makes sure George can't get another shot at Dutch. Reviewed October 5, 1999 / Posted October 8, 1999