RAIN WITHOUT THUNDER
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Running Length: 1:25 Rated: PG-13 (mature themes)
Starring: Carolyn McCormick, Ali Thomas, Betty Buckley, Jeff Daniels, Linda Hunt, Graham Greene Director: Gary Bennett Producers: Nanette Sorensen and Gary Sorensen Screenplay: Gary Bennett Music: Randall Lynch and Allen Lynch Released by Orion Classics
The year is 2042; the country is the United States of America. Alison Goldring (Ali Thomas) and her mother Beverly (Betty Buckley) have been convicted of fetal murder under the new "Unborn Child Kidnapping Act." Since abortions are no longer legal in the United States, Alison, accompanied by Beverly, traveled to Sweden to obtain one. However, the new law provides that women who leave the country for the express purpose of getting an abortion can be tried and convicted as if they had illegally obtained one inside the United States.
RAIN WITHOUT THUNDER concludes with the following quotation by Frederick Douglass: "If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet avoid confrontation, are people who want crops without plowing up the ground; they want rain without thunder and lightning; they want the ocean without the roar of its waters." In a few sentences, this statement expresses the message that the people behind this movie are attempting to get across.
Told in a documentary style, RAIN WITHOUT THUNDER is both a triumph and a failure. It presents and explores many important and timely issues, but in the process loses sight of the characters. The narrative style--interviews with the principals rather than actually showing events--further dilutes the impact of the story. There were many instances during the movie when I wanted to see a scene rather than have it recounted to me. Words do not adequately replace actions. By the end of the movie, although I understood the characters, they never become completely real. As a result, the concluding scene--a black-and-white nightmare--had little impact.
On the other hand, RAIN WITHOUT THUNDER raises issue after issue, nearly all of which are thought-provoking. Women's rights, racial and sexual equality, the nature of freedom, and the politics of choice are all placed under the microscope. They are not simply given cursory lip-service, either. In most cases, both sides are examined and reasons are given for each of the opposing positions. RAIN WITHOUT THUNDER is a film that demands its audience's attention and intellectual involvement. Those that refuse to debate the topics within their own minds will find this a dry and uninteresting experience.
Most movies taking place in the year 2042 are science fiction films. Nothing could be further from the truth for RAIN WITHOUT THUNDER. In fact, one of its weaknesses is that, aside from the political changes, nothing else seems much different. This could be 1993 rather than fifty years beyond. There are numerous silly-sounding, currently-meaningless slang terms thrown in to add a dash of authenticity to the dialogue. That particular attempt at realism is more distracting and annoying than effective, however.
RAIN WITHOUT THUNDER is a difficult movie to critique. While it provides more fodder for thought than most recent films, it doesn't succeed in telling its story. Director/writer Gary Bennett has a style that is unnecessarily cynical with a view of the future that could not be more bleak. The plot, with the exception of a single ironic twist, is unspectacular, and the central characters are left half-developed. Without the documentary-style framing, the people of this film would have been more real, but some of the issues might have gotten lost. As it is, RAIN WITHOUT THUNDER has great substance, but little drama.
Rating: 7.3 (B-, **1/2)
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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