Renny Harlin - biography
A producer and action movie director Renny Harlin began his career making shorts and documentaries in his native Finland. His "Hold On" won the Finish Film Board Award as Best Short Subject of 1982, and when he moved to USA in the mid-1980s, he crafted "Born American" (1986), bankrolling the first 20 minutes with his own money before acquiring the financing to complete it.
Banned in Finland, this rough-and-tumble action movie received little play in the United States, but attracted the attention of Irwin Yablans who enlisted Harlin to direct "Prison" (1987), a project ideally suited to someone whose father had been a prison doctor. Distribution headaches kept this movie from a wider audience but earned Harlan the chance to direct "Nightmare on Elm Street 4": The Dream Master (1988).
Harlin's "Nightmare" cost a scant $6.5 million and brought in nearly $50 million, prompting eager producers to besiege him in the hope he could wring even more brilliance out of a larger budget. Though one of his biggest bombs followed (1990's decidedly unpopular "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" starring the obnoxious Andrew 'Dice' Clay), Harlin had no time to sulk, immediately plunging ahead on the incredibly successful sequel "Die Hard 2" (1990).
Harlin debuted as a producer with the gentle "Rambling Rose" (1991), starring his then-love interest Laura Dern, Diane Ladd and Robert Duvall. This critically acclaimed small film was the first feature from Harlin's production company, Midnight Sun Pictures. He returned to actioners with the high-budget Sylvester Stallone vehicle "Cliffhanger" (1993).
Harlin formed Forge Productions (aka The Forge) with his wife Geena Davis, but to date the efforts of this production company have been lackluster. "Speechless" (1994), which Harlin produced but did not direct, was the best of the fare. A cheerful comedy poking fun at politics and the news media, it depended on the strength of leads Michael Keaton and Gena Davis to overcome the film's unevenness.
Nothing could save the disastrous pirate pic "Cutthroat Island" (1995), short of Errol Flynn returning from the dead (and even he would have needed something more than the special effects and stunts to spare). The ridiculous - but stylish - comic-book thriller "The Long Kiss Goodnight" (1996) wasn't much better, and the once happy couple parted in 1997.
After a brief stint in "movie jail" Harlin returned for the bizarre, pulpy and yet surprisingly entertaining "Deep Blue Sea" (1999), a sci-fi adventure pitting humans against scientifically engineered sharks with enhanced intelligence.
Enhanced intelligence was nowhere to be seen in his next effort, the high-octane but dim-witted race car drama "Driven" (2001) starring Sylvester Stallone and Burt Reynolds; and his follow-up, the crime thriller "Mindhunters" (2004) about a team of elite FBI profilers tracking a serial killer, made nary a ripple at the box office.
The director was then tapped to replace Paul Schrader when Schrader was deposed as the director of the horror prequel "Exorcist: The Beginning" (2004), starting the entire movie over from scratch with the exception of retaining actor Stellan Skarsgard in the Father Mirren role. Despite the fresh start, the movie was drubbed by critics.
Trivia
Currently - in 2008 -, Renny Harlin is working on a feature film based on the life of the legendary Finland's Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim.
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