Plot
Sergeant William "Dutch" Van Den Broeck is a seasoned Washington, D.C. police sergeant in the Internal Affairs Division of the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, and Kay Chandler is a Congresswoman running for reelection. Dutch is married to a fashion editor, and Kay is married to a lawyer and has a teenage daughter.
They lead separate lives, unaware of each other's existence, until a fateful plane crash changes everything. Dutch's wife Peyton and Kay's husband Cullen are among the passengers killed in the tragic accident, leaving Dutch and Kay to grapple with their devastating loss.
The plane is bound for Miami but crashes soon after takeoff. Dutch realizes that his wife was on the plane, but strangely, the airline has no record of her. He concludes that she was registered under another name and suspects that she was having an affair. His investigation turns up that she was sitting next to Kay's husband.
Suspicious of the affair, Dutch meets with Kay to see if she knew about their spouses' relationship. Concerned about the publicity of a scandal during a re-election campaign, she is not willing to talk to him and asks him to leave her alone.
Dutch pushes on with his investigation and goes to Miami. Once there, he visits the hotel that his wife was planning on going to. Kay changes her mind and follows him to Miami, wishing to uncover the truth about her husband.
The two begin to talk about their lives and their relationships, including their spouses' infidelity. Kay discusses the possibility of withdrawing from the campaign. They fly back home and share a kiss before parting company. A few days later, Dutch goes to one of Kay's campaign fundraisers and convinces her not to drop out of the race.
Dutch invites Kay to visit him at his cabin near Chesapeake Bay. Initially hesitant, she goes a few days later. The couple spend more time getting to know each other and eventually have sex.
However, Dutch is still obsessed about his wife's infidelity and comments that he believes that their spouses may have had an apartment together. Kay encourages him to move on with his life and to let it go.
The stress of his wife's death and affair begins to wear on Dutch. He loses his composure with a suspect and assaults him, resulting in a suspension from work. Dutch eventually discovers the location of the apartment, as does Kay.
When Dutch goes to the apartment, he finds Kay there already, cleaning out the apartment. They argue with each other before Kay leaves. Dutch chases her into the street in the hopes that he can make amends. However, Dutch is shot by the suspect in his criminal investigation.
Dutch survives the shooting, and the suspect is caught and arrested. The criminal investigation reveals the connection between Dutch and Kay to the world, and the media begins investigating. With rumors about their relationship growing, Kay decides to publicly confirm that she and Dutch are friends.
In the aftermath, Dutch receives a promotion at work. However, Kay loses her bid for re-election. Kay decides to leave Washington and move back home.
Dutch meets Kay at the airport before she leaves. Each of them has finally moved on from the pain of their mutual spouses’ betrayal and they are happy to see each other. Dutch asks Kay if he can take her out on a date sometime.
Reception
Critical response
Random Hearts was poorly received by critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively gives the film a rating of 17% based on reviews collected from 90 critics. The site's consensus states: "Even Harrison Ford could not save the dull plot and the slow pacing of the movie." [6] Metacritic calculated an average score of 38 out of 100, based on 35 reviews. [7] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C−" on an A+ to F scale. [8]
In a positive review from The New York Times , Janet Maslin wrote that the films of Sydney Pollack "have managed to be linear while also drifting thoughtfully through the nuances of their characters' behavior, with a stylistic polish and keenness of observation not often found in American films any more." Maslin also noted that "laconic Ford is wrenchingly effective throughout." [9]
In the Chicago Sun-Times , Roger Ebert wrote, "There are so many good things in Random Hearts, but they're side by side instead of one after the other. They exist in the same film, but they don't add up to the result of the film. Actually, the film has no result—just an ending, leaving us with all of those fine pieces, still waiting to come together. If this were a screenplay and not the final product, you could see how with one more rewrite, it might all fall into place." [10]
Box office
With an estimated budget of $64,000,000, Random Hearts was not a commercial success domestically, earning $31,502,583 in the United States and Canada. The film went on to earn another $43,105,987 in international markets, ending up with a total worldwide gross of $74,608,570. [2]
