**Hard Rain** Reviewed by Jeff Walters
Sigh. Here stands a movie that could have been so much more. Don't get me wrong - I still found Hard Rain fairly enjoyable, but there was so much unfulfilled potential in this flick. The story is very intruiging as it is an interesting mix of genres. Unlike Twister and Dantes Peak (your pure disaster flicks), this movie puts the disaster side more into the background and instead focuses on the thiller/bank-hiest storyline.
The movie opens with a stunning piece of cinematography where the camera starts at the flooded dam, then slowly makes it way across the country side, into town and ends up with a close-up of the Sherrif (played by Randy Quaid) organising the evacuation. After seeing how this seemingly one shot camera trick was done in the 'Making of....' TV special, it really is quite a brilliant peice of work.
This movie doesn't beat about the bush and it's not long before the armored car heist eventuates and the first of the many chase scenes ensues. The now jailed Christian Slater plays the part of the bank security guard (Tom) determined to protect the three million dollar bank money from the clutches of Morgan Freeman (Jim) and co.
Slater does a good job with the stand-stock hero, but his character is not explored in the slightest. To the audience he's just another characterless good guy trying to do the right thing. Freeman's character is the only one that is really memorable or interesting, but what do you expect? It's a federal offence to under-write a Morgan Freeman character and the script-writers have paid heed to this fact....to a point.
Minnie Driver (Karen) is pretty good as the fiery woman trying to protect the church she's restoring, but like Slater's Tom - there's little charcterisation and also little chemistry in her pairing with Hollywood's bad boy.
The characters I had the biggest problem with in this movie was the Sherrif, his deputy and the Dam's operator. Halfway through this movie their characters do a violent 180 and suddenly make Saddam Hussein look like a sane humanitarian. This plot twist is nice for the thriller and chase aspects of the movie as it changes the whole perspective of the audience - but overall the change in character of the three is somewhat unconvincing and doesn't entirely make sense given some of their earlier actions. Oh well - this ain't a character driven movie and Randy Quaid is fun no matter how flawed his character - so who really cares? :)
Where this movie really succeeds is in it's chase scenes. There is an awesome jet ski chase through the halls of the local school that is very gripping and original. Maybe one or two more stunts could have been squeezed into the sequence, but overall it's a key highlight. The periodic surges from the bursting Dam are a interesting element that plays mayhem on all parties involved. The final surge where the Dam breaks apart could have maybe been a bit bigger though in my opinion. The showdown sequence in Karen's ill-fated church is an absolute ripper though. A very well done scene.
If I had to pick the scene that puts sets the adrenalin pumping fastest - I'd have to say it's when Slater is locked in the jail cell (heh, talk about ironic) and the flood waters start to rise...
All in all this was an enjoyable movie that I see as an oppurtunity lost to make a really break-thru movie much like Speed was (man I wish they'd used the jet skis more often), but it is still a very watchable movie.
2 1/2 out of 5 stars
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