By Doug Levy
Arizona Daily Wildcat
January 21, 1998

Severe weather warning

Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures Arizona Daily Wildcat Karen (Minnie Driver) struggles to pull her newfound friend Tom (Christian Slater) from the water in the flooded town of Huntingburg, Ind. in "Hard Rain."

"It's very, very, very wet. It's beautiful to look at."

Minnie Driver is talking about her latest film, "Hard Rain," also starring Christian Slater and Morgan Freeman. The movie, originally titled "Flood," was set for release last year, but was held back for a number of reasons.

One was the fact that Freeman had two other films scheduled for release, "Kiss The Girls" and "Amistad." He apparently had it in his contract that the release of the films would be evenly spaced.

Another is that they reshot the ending of the movie, as well as recut it, to make it into more of an action film and less of a thriller.

There also seemed to have been a desire to distance "Hard Rain" from the huge crop of natural disaster films, including "Twister" and "Volcano," that have come out in the past few years - hence the title change away from "Flood."

"It's kind of a cool action film, you know . . ." says Driver, in New York on a press junket for her other recent film, "Good Will Hunting." "It kind of has a story. It's not filled with dumb one-liners."

Which is all true. It is "kind of" a good action film, but as Driver's hesitance to rave indicates, it's not exactly great. The film does accomplish what it sets out to do, however, setting the action against the backdrop of a natural disaster, as opposed to making the film about the disaster. The flood becomes a character of its own, in a way, interacting with the other characters in the film.

As the floodwater rises in the town of Huntingburg, Ind., Driver and her co-stars find themselves in more and more perilous situations, but not only because of the rain. Freeman plays Jim, a thief who has a plan to steal $3 million from an armored car - a car driven by Tom (Slater) and his Uncle Charlie (Ed Asner). The plan, however, goes wrong and Jim and his henchmen end up chasing Tom around the rapidly submerging town in an attempt to get the money. Throw in a sketchy sheriff, played by Randy Quaid, and his deputies, and there's more than one threat skimming the surface.

Comparing the action genre to more intellectual films, Driver says, "That's what you spend 90 minutes doing - trying to stay alive. Which is ... diverting."

Again, a perfect descriptor for the movie. "Hard Rain" is, without a doubt, diverting. There are some unique action sequences involving jet skis, boats and other seaworthy vessels, at least one scene (where Tom finds himself locked in a jail cell while water fills the police station) that is genuinely suspenseful and exciting, and even a perfect opportunity to shout at the screen, "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!"

Of course, the reason that there's not many "dumb one-liners" is that there's very little dialogue at all. The stunt doubles probably get more screen time than the actors themselves, as one standoff or chase follows another, with gun battles, explosions and destruction galore.

So, one might wonder, why would such a seasoned actor as Morgan Freeman take on such a theatrically undemanding role? Well, as he says numerous times as Jim, "I'm just here for the money."

Not that "Hard Rain" is a bad action film; it's simply an average one. A good diversion for anyone who can appreciate adventure on a smaller scale, without any hint of real cinematic pretension. The idea is big, although the scope is small - less than 15 characters appear on screen for the duration.

There is always the Christian Slater factor at work here, too. While the actor may have been a huge draw until recently, in light of his recent incarceration for offenses including punching his girlfriend while under the influence of narcotics, it remains to be seen how much the viewing public still adores him. Perhaps this will be the test.

As for Minnie Driver, asked if she would like to do another action movie in the future, she smiles wryly and sips her tea, quipping, "Not water-based."