The evil Shannon the brother/sister of Pat from Saturday Night Live sent in this report on HARD RAIN. It's a bit of a mixed bag, fantastic effects, but little character. I've had about 3 other reviews today on it, that all shared the exact same feeling. Pretty, buuuuut... You know. There are no spoilers in the review so feel free to read away.
I finally have a chance to contribute! Boston University just treated me to a screening of Hard Rain ("The Flood" is a much better title!), so I thought I'd let you know how it was.
To start, the water scenes are amazing! While some of them are obviously fake, it doesn't matter. A kazillion gallons of water running over and through everything looks incredible. It's actually scary! The movie is in-your-face action from start to finish. It's even cooler because everything is done underwater.
Unfortunately, visual effects aside, the movie was not all that great. The one liners -- every character has them -- are hopelessly lame. The plot is interesting, but predictable. At points, the twists of the story are almost too much. Christian Slater looks great (we knew that!), and he does what he can with his part. Minnie Driver is also good, as is her American accent. And, of course, she's wearing a white t-shirt in a flood! Morgan Freeman starts off a bit rough, but gets better. Randy Quaid was entirely unconvincing. There is one very bright spot: Betty White plays an old hag of a wife, and she and her husband are hysterical.
There were very few people in the theater (at 2 in the afternoon), but I got what feedback I could. Most people thought the effects were great, but the fun stopped there. The basic complaint was the plot's one-sidedness. Come on, how many times can people who are thought to be dead come back to life in an hour and a half?
I know you were excited about this movie, and it's definitely worth seeing for the effects. I still can't get over them. Just don't go in expecting more than that, because "Hard Rain" does not deliver.
