For Ford, a ‘Random’ Breakout Approach

In movies, image is everything. Just ask Harrison Ford. The ruggedly handsome star of such films as “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Star Wars” and “The Fugitive” may not be nominated for an Academy Award, but the public has made him a star of the greatest magnitude. So, why won’t the public accept him in a romance, or a comedy, or a character-driven drama? For years, Ford has tried to break out of the action genre, just as have other action stars such as Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Stallone and Schwarzenegger have yet to accomplish that feat, while Willis finally stunned critics with the phenomenal box office success of “The Sixth Sense,” a supernatural thriller that has now taken in more than $225 million to place in the top-grossing 20 movies of all time. This week, Ford will try it again, when he stars in a love story from Sony, “Random Hearts.” Directed by Sydney Pollack, Ford plays a tough-minded internal affairs cop involved in a high-stakes corruption case who, through a tragic plane crash, meets a high-profile congresswoman (Kristin Scott Thomas) embroiled in a bitter reelection campaign. Ford has tried this route before, with varying success. His 1988 romantic comedy “Working Girl” opened to only $4.7 million in December 1988, eventually topping out at $62.2 million in North America. His 1990 legal thriller “Presumed Innocent” opened with $11.7 million and went on to gross $86.3 million domestically. “Regarding Henry,” in which he played a brain-injured lawyer who starts life over again, opened to only $6.1 million in July of 1991, eventually earning $43 million in North America. One of his biggest flops was the remake of the Humphrey Bogart-Audrey Hepburn classic, “Sabrina,” which debuted on Dec. 15, 1995, to only $5.6 million, topping out at $53.7 million domestically. One film that mixed action with romance was “Six Days, Seven Nights,” which opened June 12, 1998, with $16.5 million and went on to gross $74.3 million. Can “Random Hearts” do the trick and break Ford out of the action box? The odds may be tough: The buzz about the film has been mixed at best and early reviews have been tepid.

‘Sports Night’ Takes on Baseball Playoffs

There’s nothing funny about the 1999-2000 television season--at least so far. Week two hadn’t even concluded before the first cancellation casualty (NBC’s “The Mike O’Malley Show”), while other new sitcoms have had less-than-stellar ratings debuts, from Fox’s “Action” to NBC’s “Stark Raving Mad.” So, in a slight state of desperation, we turn to second season debuts, including ABC’s “Sports Night,” which begins its sophomore year Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. Set behind the scenes at a sports cable network, the Aaron Sorkin-penned show received a warm welcome from critics last year, but audiences held their applause. Season one ended with “Sports Night” drawing an average 10.5 million viewers, losing about 20% of the lead-in audience delivered by “Spin City.” This year, “Sports Night” gets a new, even stronger lead-in (“Dharma & Greg”), and the show doesn’t have to debut opposite the popular sitcom “Will & Grace,” since NBC will be televising the Major League Baseball playoffs in that time period for the next two weeks. Also returning full-time to the cast this season is Robert Guillaume, who missed six episodes last season when he suffered a stroke Jan. 14. Guillaume, who plays Isaac Jaffee, the no-nonsense executive producer of the fictional “Sports Night” telecast, is still undergoing physical therapy and has diminished movement on his left side. But he has already taped several episodes and is in terrific shape and spirits, insiders say. His stroke has been written in for Jaffee’s character.

Tough Going for Garth Brooks’ Alter Ego?

Everybody knows Garth Brooks can sell albums, but what about this Chris Gaines guy? The country superstar’s new experiment--releasing an album as a fictitious pop-rock persona named Chris Gaines to tie in to his plans to play that faux singer in a film that won’t arrive until late next year--hits the charts Wednesday, and the music industry is watching to see if the project is a typical Garthian mega-hit or a rare misstep for the best-selling solo artist of all time. The early word? Retailers and industry insiders say that “Garth Brooks in . . . The Life of Chris Gaines” will sell more than 200,000 copies to land high on the chart, but not at No. 1. That top spot looks locked up by the Florida rock band Creed, which should top 300,000 copies sold, retailers project. If so, this would be the first time since 1995 that a Brooks album fails to debut at No. 1. To Pat Quigley, president of Capitol Records Nashville, that doesn’t signal a failure for the album, just a nod to the complexity of the concept. “A lot of people still don’t get it,” Quigley said, despite an NBC-TV prime-time show last week that had Brooks explain and sing the songs. Quigley said the success of the album can be decided in the weeks to come by radio’s response to the album’s key single, “Right Now.” “If it gets good airplay, we’ll do fine. If not, then it’s back to the drawing board.” Last November, Brooks sold more than 1 million copies of his “Double Live” in its first week in stores, and he and his label loudly trumpeted that as a bellwether of his fame and fan loyalty. Why is it any different this time around? Said Quigley, “This isn’t the Christmas season, the market size is different in September. . . . Sure, we’d like to be No. 1, but if that’s all we wanted we’d just put out another country record.”

--Compiled by Times Staff Writers