Search - Rain in the Mountains on DVD

Appealing Despite Amateurish Approach

R. Schultz | Chicago | 07/06/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This film shows its indie, low budget origins. The script is disjointed and contains too many fey, improvised characters - such as the dead man who cavorts across the landscape dispensing mystical wisdoms. To be fair, some of the annoying intrusions of this impossible fellow were probably due to misfortunes that dogged the filming of this movie. There's no Director's commentary on this DVD, as the jacket might lead a person to believe. But there's a printed Director's statement. When you lean in close to read the small print of this statement, you learn that the lead actor in "Rain" had a stroke during filming. The Director had to shuffle scenes and make other adjustments to fill in the gaps caused by this setback. That's probably how the dead man's role got expanded.

Despite the high school recital last-minute, run-on, pulling together in the face of catastrophe quality of this movie though, there is definitely something memorable and heartwarming about "Rain." Steve Pierre, that lead actor, plays his part with irrepressible ebullience.

Pierre is a Native American who feels called in the film to rally his people back to the old ways. However, since he has never hunted, fished, or done anything that could even remotely be classified as "Indian" - he faces quite a challenge. His attempts to return to a traditional way of living only end in a series of quixotic misadventures.

I didn't get many actual belly laughs here, but I did get some chuckles - for example, in the scene where Pierre takes his son to a town elder to ask the older man's advice about how to proceed in restoring the old ways. The elder speaks only in his Native language. Pierre, to save face with his son, pretends to understand. He translates the elder's idle offer of a beer as a mystic utterance of wisdom about "following the path."

After involving himself in his series of blunders, Pierre feels momentarily depressed, a failure. He apologizes to his son for being such an embarrassment. But his son knows better. His son cheerfully reassures his Dad that he wouldn't have any other man as his father. The boy sums up by rejoicing that none of his friends have fathers who are nearly so "interesting.'

I felt the same way. I ended up wanting to spend more time with Pierre's unique character. He would make a wonderful centerpiece for a TV series. He calls for development, for our getting to know him over weeks and months. I hope someone out there will tackle turning this great premise into a "Northern Exposure" type of series."

Worth it

Campbell Brown | 02/29/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"the main character brings top notch performance. although the hd dvd is not much of an upgrade compared to sd dvd, the movie by itself is still wirth a look."

Okay story; needed better acting and photography

Viva | So. Cal. | 12/21/2009

(2 out of 5 stars)

"The story here is okay, but the acting, directing, and photography leave much to be desired. This was clearly made on a shoestring budget, but even at that, there should have been more quality control. If you want a better film about Native Americans, try Smoke Signals or Christmas in the Clouds."

Tries hard but doesn't work

Kim Hoag | Forest Park, IL United States | 12/26/2008

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I wanted to like this movie but I just couldn't. The writing, directing, and acting were too sophomoric for me to enjoy. The basic premise was good and very Native American-like (think trickster meets modern Indian) but the writer-director could not pull it off.

There are a number of great Indian movies out there that work, and some wonderful must-see artistic beginnings (eg. Fancy Dancing by Sherman Alexie), but this movie falls into neither category. It is great high school material, but nothing more."