Rain (2001)

85% of critics liked it
(59 reviews)
74% of users liked it
(2,184 ratings)

While on a family vacation on the Mahurangi Peninsula in New Zealand, 13-year-old Janey begins to realize that her parents' marriage is on the rocks.

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 33 min.
Directed By: Christine Jeffs
Written By: Christine Jeffs
Genres: Drama, Romance

In Theaters: Oct 1, 2001 Wide
On DVD: May 8, 2007
Studio: IDP Distribution

Critic Reviews

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Treats a potentially explosive set-up with adult reflection and thoughtfulness.
Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune
Far from the first female coming-of-age movie, but it's one of the most vivid.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
Rain is so slight that it almost isn't there, but these performers deftly approximate the sensation of having a craving for someone.
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post
It is, like weather, what it is, neither good nor bad but something that feels as if it has the weight of the inevitable.
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle
Jeffs creates a lush atmosphere of desire and approaching chaos, and delivers a bona fide shocker in the last reel.
Jane Sumner, Dallas Morning News
Ms. Fulford-Wierzbicki is almost spooky in her sulky, calculating Lolita turn.
Bruce Feld, Film Journal International
First-time writer-director Christine Jeffs captures the destruction of a family with a blunt accuracy that never precludes a gift for the occasionally lyrical moment.
Merle Bertrand, Film Threat
Fulford-Wierzbicki in particular turns in a performance well beyond her years as Janey.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
The film's constant mood of melancholy and its unhurried narrative are masterfully controlled. But ... in trying to capture the novel's deeper intimate resonances, the film has - ironically - distanced us from the characters.
Phil Villarreal, Arizona Daily Star
Before it rains, clouds cover the sky and hint at the coming storm. Jeffs fully captures that feeling of anticipation.
Jeffrey Bruner, Des Moines Register
The symbolism may be a little thick at times ... but overall it's a remarkably strong debut that marks Jeffs as a director to watch.

Read all 11 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Dean L

This is a very tough movie. Tough characters, tough subject matter, tough to watch. I mean this in a good way. These people are very real with real problems and real attitudes. There is a raw nakedness about the film that makes it somehow tangible and sometimes uncomfortable. The… More
This is a very tough movie. Tough characters, tough subject matter, tough to watch. I mean this in a good way. These people are very real with real problems and real attitudes. There is a raw nakedness about the film that makes it somehow tangible and sometimes uncomfortable. The scenes are not painted nor rendered rather they are captured as they are?and they are not very pretty (save for some of the landscape). The cast are not a group of models (though the youngest boy is about as cute and wonderful an actor as they come). This movie will hit you as ?real.? The viewer is presented with a family; Husband, Wife, Daughter, Son. The Daughter appears to be the focal character, but as pivotal as she is each character is given ample time and thought. The problems that they deal with are very real. I don?t think this will be a spoiler to anyone, but in case you think it might be skip to the next paragraph. Be prepared to deal with a family on the brink of destruction, infidelity, addiction, purposelessness, coming unto teenage sexuality, and all of this combined to amount to tragedy. This film is a tragic drama that may leave you squirming a bit. I recommend this film to those who are comfortable looking at some of the more difficult things in life or who have experienced some of the same and wish to see an accurate portrayal?a film that empathizes with the pain that real life can bring.

Rain (2001)

Critic Reviews

Featured Audience Ratings

Dean L

Cast