I had some low expectations going into Hard Rain, the lower rating and the fact I’ve never once heard of it before finding it on here had me anticipating your typical 90’s action/thriller filled with the expected cliches, instead what I got was a genuinely unique experience with some great characters, performances, and a highly entertaining narrative to follow. The uniqueness isn’t created by a lack of those cliches as they’re still sprinkled throughout but it’s the story’s conception and the setting it takes place in that really got me hooked, all throughout it’s filled with impressive looking rain shots and the setting allowed for some unique action pieces that made the whole experience that much more fun. As far as the performances go I liked the whole cast with Slater and Freeman obviously at the top of that list with their talent being a noticeable step up on the rest, still though I thought Minnie Driver’s supporting role and Randy Quaid’s antagonist were both quite good. It’s a simple narrative that doesn’t take too many daring turns (although I do like that there aren’t any real “moral heroes” here) so I don’t have much more to say, if you’re a fan of the 90’s action thriller I really don’t see how you couldn’t have a good time.

I had some low expectations going into Hard Rain, the lower rating and the fact I’ve never once heard of it before finding it on here had me anticipating your typical 90’s action/thriller filled with the expected cliches, instead what I got was a genuinely unique experience with some great characters, performances, and a highly entertaining narrative to follow. The uniqueness isn’t created by a lack of those cliches as they’re still sprinkled throughout but it’s the story’s conception and the setting it takes place in that really got me hooked, all throughout it’s filled with impressive looking rain shots and the setting allowed for some unique action pieces that made the whole experience that much more fun. As far as the performances go I liked the whole cast with Slater and Freeman obviously at the top of that list with their talent being a noticeable step up on the rest, still though I thought Minnie Driver’s supporting role and Randy Quaid’s antagonist were both quite good. It’s a simple narrative that doesn’t take too many daring turns (although I do like that there aren’t any real “moral heroes” here) so I don’t have much more to say, if you’re a fan of the 90’s action thriller I really don’t see how you couldn’t have a good time.

Now, anytime Morgan Freeman is on a cast list, I click watch without thinking, the man just elevates whatever project he touches, even when the story gets messy or characters make decisions that feel like they were written during a lunch break, and in this film he brings this calm presence that somehow clashes with the frantic energy of everyone else, which makes that dynamic feel weirdly satisfying. Then you add Christian Slater running around, city officials acting shady, locals trying to protect their homes, everyone yelling about pumps and dams and water levels, and suddenly it turns into this strange cocktail of action, heist thriller, disaster drama, and small town greed where you genuinely wonder who you should root for.

And that tagline, A simple plan, An instant fortune, Just add water, that is hilarious to me because nothing about this plan is simple, if you split six million dollars between a crew of criminals in the nineties, sure you feel rich for a year, but this is not some retirement fantasy, this is just enough to start arguing about shares, taxes, spending, and suddenly half of them are broke again, and also, this was not just water, this was water on water on water, like the director looked at a perfectly dry script and thought… what if we turned every scene into a swimming lesson.

Hard Rain is the kind of movie you throw on when you want something pulpy, chaotic, a little stupid, but interesting enough that you want to see how it ends, and although it is not some masterpiece, it has a charm that sticks to you. If you want a flood soaked heist thriller with Morgan Freeman doing his thing, give it a shot, keep your expectations reasonable, and just enjoy the chaos while the water rises around everyone like Mother Nature asking… so, who really deserves that money.

I also just learned it was made by a Danish director, and so much stuff now makes so much sense… I will let you figure out what that means.

Now, anytime Morgan Freeman is on a cast list, I click watch without thinking, the man just elevates whatever project he touches, even when the story gets messy or characters make decisions that feel like they were written during a lunch break, and in this film he brings this calm presence that somehow clashes with the frantic energy of everyone else, which makes that dynamic feel weirdly satisfying. Then you add Christian Slater running around, city officials acting shady, locals trying to protect their homes, everyone yelling about pumps and dams and water levels, and suddenly it turns into this strange cocktail of action, heist thriller, disaster drama, and small town greed where you genuinely wonder who you should root for.

And that tagline, A simple plan, An instant fortune, Just add water, that is hilarious to me because nothing about this plan is simple, if you split six million dollars between a crew of criminals in the nineties, sure you feel rich for a year, but this is not some retirement fantasy, this is just enough to start arguing about shares, taxes, spending, and suddenly half of them are broke again, and also, this was not just water, this was water on water on water, like the director looked at a perfectly dry script and thought… what if we turned every scene into a swimming lesson.

Hard Rain is the kind of movie you throw on when you want something pulpy, chaotic, a little stupid, but interesting enough that you want to see how it ends, and although it is not some masterpiece, it has a charm that sticks to you. If you want a flood soaked heist thriller with Morgan Freeman doing his thing, give it a shot, keep your expectations reasonable, and just enjoy the chaos while the water rises around everyone like Mother Nature asking… so, who really deserves that money.

I also just learned it was made by a Danish director, and so much stuff now makes so much sense… I will let you figure out what that means.

yeah the rain wasn’t the only hard thing during this movie (im a girl)

yeah the rain wasn’t the only hard thing during this movie (im a girl)

X-Treme Rain

X-Treme Rain

The added half star for Betty White

The added half star for Betty White