Hard to swallow 'Rain' drowns itself in downpour of clichés

REVIEW
	Hard Rain At Briarwood and Showcase

The huge success of the epic "Titanic" has all but guaranteed the continuation of a stale trend through the next year: the disaster film.

Just when it seemed that Hollywood was about to bury the genre after bombs like "Dante's Peak" and "Volcano," James Cameron's "Titanic" came along and captured the imagination of viewers all across the country.

This means that we're going to have to put up with productions like "Hard Rain." Although the film does feature a fine cast, the weak direction and writing help sink it faster than a giant ship that has just hit an iceberg.

The action begins with the evacuation of the town of Huntingburg, Indiana because of torrential rains that are threatening to cause a flood. Tom and Charlie (Christian Slater and Ed Asner, respectively), a pair of armored- truck guards, collect a large sum of money from the local bank. But, they are left stranded when the water level becomes too high to drive.

Charlie makes a distress call and, after a short while, it appears that help has arrived. Unfortunately for our heroes, the help turns out to be a group of armed thieves who want the money from the truck. Jim (Morgan Freeman) leads the gang. A shootout ensues and although Charlie is killed, Tom is able to escape with the loot.

The rest of the movie focuses on the search for Tom and the missing money. Also involved are three policemen (including one played by Randy Quaid) and Karen, an attractive young woman (played by Minnie Driver).

Drowning men Christian Slater and Morgan Freeman are in too deep in Paramount Pictures' "Hard Rain."

Although the general premise of the film is quite banal, the plot has enough turns to keep the viewer somewhat interested. In many ways, the twists are predictable, but the fact that they take place injects enough life into the movie to make it tolerable.

One of "Hard Rain"'s strengths is the presentation of the featured players. The line separating good and evil is blurred throughout the film. The central characters, while fairly underdeveloped, are not on cruise control and do not necessarily behave in the expected manner. Their motivations are sometimes unclear and they are slightly more than dull plot devices.

On the other hand, the complexity of the characters' actions are mitigated by the atrocious dialogue they utter. Their lines range from being cheesy to idiotic, and the attempts at humor are uninspired.

Director Mikael Salomon is not able to coax much of anything out of his actors. Morgan Freeman is merely collecting a paycheck in his mechanical portrayal of Jim. Ditto for Christian Slater and Ed Asner. It's interesting to see Randy Quaid play a role where he's not an inbred goofball, but it simply exhibits his lack of versatility. Finally, Minnie Driver plays Karen (the film's weakest and most cliched character) effectively, but it is obvious that she, like her peers, is wasting her time.

The final nail in the coffin of "Hard Rain" is the lack of creativity and the redundancy of the action scenes. Salomon is unable to give the film the adrenaline rush it needs. The crux of the action features the characters chasing each other around in slow-moving boats for the entire film, while constantly shooting and missing.

Aside from being dull, these sequences are not particularly well shot. With the driving rain and lack of lighting, it is difficult at times to tell what is going on and the viewer never gains an appreciation of the power of the flood. The director chooses to keep the focus on the repetitive chase scenes rather than emphasize the visual splendor of the deluge.

Although "Hard Rain" is not a horrible movie, it is extremely forgettable. Hollywood needs to recognize the fact that "Titanic" has done so well because of the ability of the director to construct a story that perfectly complements the physical disaster. Until executives come to this realization, the general public is left to suffer through bloated disaster films like "Hard Rain."

01-23-98