Yes, I can see this film is never going to pack cinemas or win awards, but it's not trite and is quite well acted. This isn't a film to watch because you want a story, or escape, or a smile. It won't make you feel better about life.
But if you're feeling morose, and quiet, and aren't feeling particularly optimistic about how things will turn out, you might find some kind of solace in the aimless wandering of Ford and Thomas' characters. When something very bad happens to you, you do feel confused and battered, and the lead characters in Random Hearts reflect this well.
The criminal sub-plot does feel a bit redundant, like it's strayed in from another film. Perhaps it was some kind of attempt to keep a fig leaf of commerciality on what is basically a couple of hours of numb meditation, although I haven't read the original novel so I don't know if it had some greater significance that I missed.
Some of the other reviews on here quite rightly call Random Hearts noir and cathartic, the film equivalent not so much of watching paint dry as watching a river flow.
But if you're feeling morose, and quiet, and aren't feeling particularly optimistic about how things will turn out, you might find some kind of solace in the aimless wandering of Ford and Thomas' characters. When something very bad happens to you, you do feel confused and battered, and the lead characters in Random Hearts reflect this well.
The criminal sub-plot does feel a bit redundant, like it's strayed in from another film. Perhaps it was some kind of attempt to keep a fig leaf of commerciality on what is basically a couple of hours of numb meditation, although I haven't read the original novel so I don't know if it had some greater significance that I missed.
Some of the other reviews on here quite rightly call Random Hearts noir and cathartic, the film equivalent not so much of watching paint dry as watching a river flow.