Search - Hard Rain on DVD

Fun action flick

Dan Brady | Minneapolis, MN United States | 05/20/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Yup - the plot does stretch your ability to suspend disbelief, but it stops short of actually asking you to hang it by the neck until it's dead - the story is unlikely, but there are no obvious plot holes to disrupt the fun.

Morgan Freeman dishes up his usual excellence in this role - a crook looking for a retirement fund, with a typical crew to help - a screwup 20s rowdy, an unemployed high school science teacher, and a scripture-quoting pro.

Christian Slater is, well, Christian Slater - I've been a fan for years, and this is yet another appearance of the wisecracking, intrepid guy that Mr. Slater plays so often. It'd get repititious if it weren't so much fun. He's at the end of a "clean out the banks before they're flooded" run, with $3 million in the truck when it's stuck in a deep spot in the ever-present water.

Minnie Driver does a fine, if understated, job as the woman who stayed in town too long, preparing a church she's been restoring to weather the flood, who gets involved in the scramble for the cash. While she's on the side of the good guys, there's no real steam between her and Slater.

Randy Quaid is the Sheriff who recently lost his re-election, and is bitter and angry, but determined to do a good job as long as he's on the clock - until the temptation of that money proves to be too much for him.

For a film set almost entirely in a nighttime rain, the camerawork is amazingly good. The effects work nicely, the flood gives us an element that's unusual in action films, and the cast works well together, even when the script gets a tad overblown.

The widescreen DVD has a few basic features, but is pretty scant in extras - no deleted scenes, no trailers for other movies, nothing you'd not have seen in the theatre but the trailer for this film - which was a disappointment, but not fatal.

All in all, a fun 96 minutes of video, if you're not in the mood for something deep and meaningful."

Quite Entertaining Nonsense

snalen | UK | 02/09/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"It's set, entirely at night, in the small Indiana town of Huntingburg which is being evacuated as a serious flood develops. But there are a few folk still around: Christian Slater and Edward Asner, the drivers of an armoured truck with $3M in the back; Morgan Freeman, the leader of a small gang of thieves with their sights set on the same 3M, Randy Quaid, a sheriff with some unappealing character traits; Minnie Driver, a churchwarden who has lingered rashly to protect her beloved stained glass windows; Richard Dysart and Betty White, an elderly couple stubbornly refusing to leave for fear of looters, thrown in for comic relief. Slater escapes from Freeman and his pals with the money which he hides in a cemetery. They pursue him on jet skis... Everyone gets very wet. Explosions. Gunfights. Hair's breadth escapes by lead characters trapped in rising floodwater. General mayhem. Credulity strained to breaking point. Significantly above average American action movie. More original than most. Quite good fun. Nothing special. But worth a look if you like this sort of thing."