Reviews

The duo are terrific actors but both go through the film with stoic indifference. And when Ford suddenly fumbles, grabs and kisses Thomas for the first time, it evokes twitters. Blink and you8217;ll miss the terrific Peter Coyote, who plays Scott Thomas8217; husband.

With its story of an unusual urban romance, Random Hearts doesn8217;t quite live up to the promise of its premise. It has excellent cinematography but director Sydney Pollack8217;s Out of Africa first oeuvre in four years is a bit of a disappointment and ends inconclusively. Watch it only if you are hardcore fan of either star.

The Bachelor

Brewster8217;s Millions meets Runaway Bride here. Last year it was JuliaRoberts running away from marriage and prospective grooms in Bride. And earlier in 1985, it was Richard Pryor as the man who spent 10 million dollars to inherit his grandfather8217;s fortune. Now it8217;s the turn of Chris O8217;Donnell in The Bachelor to do a bit of both.

Donnell plays Jimmie Shannon the marriage-phobic carefree bachelor with a string of affairs. Falling in love with Anne Renee Zellwegger, Donnell begins a three-year relationship and then botches it up with a lame marriage proposal. Sensing his hesitation, Zellwegger walks out on him.

And then one day, his grandfather the delightful Peter Ustinov passes away leaving Shannon junior an inheritance of 100 million. But there8217;s a catch. He has to marry before his 30th birthday, stay married for at least ten years and also have genetically certified children. That8217;s the Brewster8217;s Millions part, right down to the video-taped will. One of the film8217;s character8217;s actually says this aloud!

The rest of the movie detailsO8217;Donnell8217;s frantic attempts, with priest James Cromwell in tow, to track down and try to marry one of his former girlfriends. The stereotyped women here who draw the laughs include an androgynous harridan Brooke Shields, an opera star Mariah Carey, cop Jennifer Esposito, chef Katharine Towne, a window dresser, a commodities trader and a college student.

But, of course, we all know that O8217;Donnell will eventually know the meaning of love and will be united in true fairy tale style with Zellweger. Predictable plot, draws a few laughs. O8217;Donnell is passable, but Zellweger is miscast. Ustinov is a two scene-stealer and Cromwell is a treat to watch. Recommended for the Valentine week.

8212; SANDEEP UNNITHAN

Badal

All8217;s going great, until Badal remembers that he wasn8217;t here to find himself a family, but to seek revenge for his own deceased lot. What ensues is a boring and tiresome tirade against the sadistic Rana who every now and then burns up local villages, opens fire on innocentpeople, and enjoys smashing a terrorist8217;s toes with a nice, big hammer which ends with a crassy cliched climax.

Director Raj Kanwar insults your intelligence with this predictably inane film which when it isn8217;t justifying terrorism activity as innocence-gone-wrong, upsets you with its pointless violence. Music by Anu Malik is not much to speak of, as is the film8217;s editing, which could have been more adeptly handled.

Of the actors, Amrish Puri and Ashutosh Rana are both impressive in their respective roles. Rani Mukherji is mostly vivacious, often going way over the top with her excitement. Clearly, this actress who has shown much promise in her earlier films, deserves better. Meanwhile, Bobby Deol has grown considerably as an actor since his early work. Displaying restraint where necessary, the actor manages to carry off intense scenes with a practised hand. It might be interesting to watch him soon in a better role and a more sensible film.

As for the film in totality, it8217;s recommended only to thosewho promise not to complain about mindless action and a wafer-thin plot. A suggestion: Badal would have been better off titled Badla.

8212;RAJEEV MASAND