Three Days of Rain (2002)

40% of critics liked it
(10 reviews)
35% of users liked it
(182 ratings)

Writer/director Michael Meredith's ambitious first feature, Three Days of Rain, weaves together a large number of tales, loosely based on short stories by Anton Chekhov, and set in present-day Cleveland. Thunder (Michael Santoro) is a struggling tile-maker, an artisan whose leaky roof threatens to… More Writer/director Michael Meredith's ambitious first feature, Three Days of Rain, weaves together a large number of tales, loosely based on short stories by Anton Chekhov, and set in present-day Cleveland. Thunder (Michael Santoro) is a struggling tile-maker, an artisan whose leaky roof threatens to destroy his business and his life. Denis (Joey Bilow) is a mentally impaired railroad worker who finds his job in jeopardy when a co-worker, Jim (Chuck Cooper), questions his competence. Tess (Merle Kennedy) is a drug-addled young woman who performs sexual favors for a sleazy judge in order to visit the young daughter of whom she's lost custody. Waldo (Peter Falk) is an old rummy who repeatedly manipulates his caring son, Michael (Bill Stockton, who also produced the film), and then apologizes for doing so. Alex (Erick Avari of The Mummy) begins to question everything about his life after an encounter with a homeless veteran. A cab driver, John (Don Meredith), tells everyone who will listen about the recent death of his son. Through it all runs the commentary of a disc jockey (Lyle Lovett), who plays the smooth jazz that comprises the film's soundtrack. Three Days of Rain came to the attention of Wim Wenders through an editor on the project, Peter Przygodda, and Wenders, impressed with Meredith's work, became involved with the film. Three Days of Rain was shown in competition at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival. The film features cameos by Blythe Danner, Jason Patric, Max Perlich, Wayne Rogers (of M*A*S*H fame), and avant-garde filmmaker George Kuchar. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: Michael Meredith
Genres: Art House & International, Drama

In Theaters: Sep 30, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Oct 9, 2007
Studio: Rogue Arts

Critic Reviews

Ronnie Scheib, Variety
Rain strives for a Magnolia-type tapestry of quiet desperation. But after 90 unremitting minutes of badly acted, atrociously written histrionic misery, pic leaves one praying for frogs.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
In the genre of interlocking stories about lonely lives, Three Days of Rain is only a sketch compared to the power of Rodrigo Garcia's Nine Lives, which continues to grow in my memory.
Jami Bernard, New York Daily News
The ends of each story work beautifully, but getting there requires traveling some washed-out roads, despite the imprimatur of executive producer Wim Wenders.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
A well-written and -acted drama that's also unrelentingly grim.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
Inspired by Chekhov's short stories, Three Days of Rain belongs to the now-familiar genre of overlapping tales of urban desperation.
Darren Reidy, Village Voice
The real subversion is director Michael Meredith's insistence on not capturing interactions between human beings in a frame; with some forethought he could have filmed the actors individually and spliced.
Bridget Byrne, Boxoffice Magazine
Meredith has created a mood piece that avoids self-indulgence as it explores the self-indulgent nature of a handful of diverse people, caught up in the major and minor miseries of life's foolish ironies and genuine woes.
Matthew Duersten, L.A. Weekly
A hypnotic mood piece -- where characters' blank existential stares are framed through rain-beaded car windows -- and a murky riff on urban Midwestern ennui (by way of the Russian steppes).
Merle Bertrand, Film Threat
It's simply a pleasure watching these seasoned pros, a collection of recognizable faces, if not exactly household names, massage these characters and bring them and their stories to life.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
As a filmmaker, Meredith has a strong, if derivative, visual sense, although his screenplay is packed with too many clichés and familiar riffs.