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| Design by Frank Browning Hard Rain (1998) Writer: Amanda Tullos |
I don't know about you, but the thought of being trapped in a flooding town with both Christian Slater and Randy Quaid (clearly, the sexier of the Quaid's) is my very own personal wet dream (pun intended). In the action-thriller, Hard Rain, Slater finds himself in a predicament as he must flee from looters, guns, and avoid drowning, all while remaining gorgeous and quick-witted with Minnie Driver by his side.
The 1998 film, Hard Rain, directed by Mikael Solomon and written by Graham Yost (Justified, Speed), starts off with two armored truck drivers, Tom (Slater) and Charlie (Ed Asner), en route to their final stop in a flooded small town in Indiana. Along the way, the truck gets stuck in a ditch and after the pair phone the National Guard, they are greeted by a team of robbers intent on stealing all of the money from their truck.
The team of robbers is led by the equally charismatic, Morgan Freeman, who does his best to hypnotize Slater with his wise words as he attempts to take their money. The problem is, a few members in Freeman's gang are stupid and cause the whole situation to become a lot worse than was originally intended. This indescretion causes a war that is only worsened as Slater tries to find a way out.
After Slater, er, Tom's interaction with the robbers, he takes the money and decides to flee, managing to use his super-human Slater strength to run through the flooded town with ease and swiftness, without being caught by the men with guns. The gang eventually catches up to him with jetskis and boats; however, that doesn't stop Slater from using his ability to remain super cool and untouchable as he outsmarts them and gets away--again!
Somehow, Tom makes his way to a church in the middle of the town where he is greeted with a fist to the face (or a shovel to the head) by the always lovely and always charming, Minnie Driver, whom seems to be the perfect girl who gets along with everyone in everything that she does. Most unbelievable moment--why would you knock Christian Slater out if God was nice enough to send him to the abandoned church in which you are restoring? Why did you do this, Minnie? You take him by the hand and into the confessional and you...confess your sins together. For hours.
Anyway, Driver's character, Karen, manages to carry a full-grown man to a nearby boat and take him to the sheriff's station, where Randy Quaid resides and puts him in a cell. When the mysterious creature awakens from his beautiful slumber, he tells Quaid and company what has happened and the Sheriff explains that he will catch them, while leaving Tom in the cell--alone. Clearly, in a flooding town, this is a bad move, guy.
So, while Tom is waiting for everyone to get back and to be let out of his cell, another levee is opened, causing a surge of water to flood into town, thus sending it into the sheriff's station. Uh-oh. Slater must use his Slater-strength and his cat-like vision to swim through the flood water and attempt to stay alive. Not only is he insanely attractive, he's like MacGuyver too; he uses a flashlight to stand as a snorkel!
Luckily for him, Karen remembers that he is locked inside and comes to save him. Thank God, Karen. Smartest thing you ever did. Following the rescue mission, Karen and Tom meet up with the Sheriff again and realize his evil intentions--he wants the money too! So, not only does Slater have to deal with the robbers, he's got to deal with the local authority as well. Worst day ever.
I can never understand why people give this movie so much shit because it was actually quite enjoyable. Sure, there are a few things that are farfetched and stupid but what movies are absolutely perfect? It did what it was set out to do: provide over-the-top action mixed with Slater's manneurisms and eyebrows, making for the perfect 90's thrilller.
The film combined two intense elements: being robbed/murdered with drowning. Both of those scenarios would suck majorly and the movie fantasized it all, helping you to work out mentally what you would do in the given situation. Of course, none of the craziness and danger is a match for Slater because the guy has seen and done it all before. He fell into the classic heroic role that he was born to play, and play it he did.
You may say to yourself: this is totally unbelievable and would never happen. My response would be, shut the fuck up. Is it really all too unreal? I'm pretty sure if there was a disastrous situation at hand and lack of order, people would do whatever the hell they wanted if money was involved--especially kill when they know there's a great chance of getting away with the crime.
The only thing that the criminals didn't take into consideration was that the man they were standing up against was a badass motherfucker. You can't beat Christian Slater because he is sly as a fox and he will surpass all obstacles thrown his way. The man has fought Vietnamese baddies in Gleaming the Cube, stuck it to the Man in Pump up the Volume, and taken down businessmen thugs in Kuffs. What the hell have you done lately?
Hard Rain is the quintessential 90's action thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end, rooting for the main character the whole way through. Yes, at times the situation was farfetched but Slater's performance, along with Freeman and Driver, help to bring it back down to Earth. The film showcases Slater at his best in his last starring release that came out during the height of his fame. It was entertaining, fun, and it had a little something for everyone (i.e. Slater for the ladies and SPLOSIONS for the fellas). Don't pass this one up because who would want to miss a soaking wet Slater at his best? Exactly.
-Amanda Tullos
-Amanda Tullos
Thanks again, Mandy! Check out her blog at the above link, and you can visit the Facebook page HERE!
