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, travelled to Sweeden to obtain one. However, the new law provides that women who leave the country for the express purpose of having 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 producers of this movie are attempting to convey -- that, for the United States to continue to evolve, those of us who value our freedom must fight against those who would repress them.
Told in a documentary-like fashion, Rain Without Thunder explores important and timely issues (few topics press more "hot buttons" than abortion), but, in the process, loses sight of the characters. The narrative style -- interviewing the principals rather than actually showing events -- dilutes the emotional impact. Words do not adequately replace actions, and this is like watching an extended episode of Sixty Minutes.
Rain Without Thunder is definitely an issues-oriented picture. Women's rights, racial and sexual equality, the nature of freedom, and the politics of choice are all placed under the microscope. In most cases, some sort of argument is presented for both sides, although there's never much doubt where the film maker's sympathies lie. However, as interesting as some of Rain Without Thunder's sequences are, without well-developed characters, the film's impact is limited to the intellectual realm.
Most movies taking place in the year 2042 are science fiction of one sort or another. Rain Without Thunder is an exception; the setting is just a plot device. In fact, one of the story's weaknesses is that, aside from the political changes, nothing else is much different. This could easily be 1993. 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 than effective, however.
Rain Without Thunder offers a tantalizing intellectual structure with little emotional foundation. It's somewhat disappointing, because the premise is ripe for a fascinating story, but Rain Without Thunder is too interested in pushing a political agenda to worry about how compelling its narrative is. This film has great substance, but little drama.
© 1993, 1996 James Berardinelli