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Who'll Stop the Rain? (1978)

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Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

A traumatised Vietnam war correspondent can draw 'no more cheap morals' from the bloody absurdity around him. 'In a world where elephants are pursued by flying men, everyone's gonna want to get high' he reasons, as he blindly steps into the heroin business and joins the 'Dog Soldiers' of Robert Stone's novel and Reisz's excellent adaptation. Involving old buddy Nolte and his own wife Weld in his doomed dope deal, he precipitates a compelling chase through the corrupt moral wasteland of counter-culture/CIA-culture America. On the way, Washington power-play is mirrored in the casual sadism of the pursuers, and the conventional 'MacGuffin' role of the 2kg bag takes on a metaphorical charge. Reisz nimbly avoids the Big Theme style, finds the pace of his material early, and sustains it brilliantly, emerging with a contemporary classic of hard-edged adventure and three superb character studies.

Author: PT

Time Out Film Guide

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User reviews of this film

Richard Estes said...

Posted on Jun 26 2011 06:57 Agree with kenan. Caught the second half of this film by accident on an Arizona oldies TV station, and was immediately mesmerized. It remains as powerful to me today as when I saw it in the theatre in 1978. The interiors are evocative of the French and Fassbinder, while the high desert landscape is drenched in a noirish neorealism. In addition to the leads, Zerbe is fabulous in his role as a contemporary Ahab. Back in the 70s, he got a little overexposed, and became a caricature, but, seeing his performance decades later in 2011, it is obvious that he was one of the great villains in TV and film history.

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kenan said...

Posted on Mar 18 2010 05:54 This movie just gets better each time I see it. Nolte and Tuesday Weld are outstanding in the roles handed to them. The feel of 1978 is all over this film, and it is the real deal for anyone who was there-SF or LA. The Bay Area, Topanga, the serious drop out hippie culture of Kesey and doctor Leary, with its hard edge on the fringes( a la Manson, ) its all there. I liked the Neal Cassady railroad track demise of Hicks. The difference is that he was trying to walk into mexico, and Cassady was trying to walk out, but they met the same fate.
Great soundtrack, great mood, great acting, and a lot of moral and ethical questions flying around each development in the plot. 5 out of 5.

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