Review: LET IT RAIN

LET IT RAIN is a modern day comedy/drama set in the south of France. It took me a few minutes to figure out the connections between some of the main characters. I was able to get my bearings not too long into the film. A voice over narrator would have been extremely helpful a la Woody Allen in many of his films.

The story begins with Karim and Michel deciding to collaborate on a documentary about a successful woman. Karim is a former filmmaking student of Michele’s who works the front desk of a small local hotel to provide for his new bride, Severine, while trying to get a break in film. His partner, Michel is the source of much of the humor in the film. He bumbles through their plans and tries to exude an air of intellectual superiority when he has no idea about what is happening. They decide the subject of their documentary should be Agathe, a feminist author turned politician. Karim’s mother, Mimouna, was the cook/ housekeeper for Agathe’s parents and, after their deaths, continues working in the family house for its new occupants, Agathe’s sister Florence and her husband and two young sons. When we meet the rising political star, Agathe, she is rushing about the town’s train station with her lover, Antoine, in tow acting as her manager. As a favor to Karim’s mother, she consents to take time out between the speeches and rallies and be interviewed for the film at her old family home. Her sister, Florence.  Is stressed out preparing for the visit and dealing with her resentment of the way their parents showered Agathe with attention when they were children.

When the two filmmakers arrive at the cottage we find that Michel is the secret lover of Florence. While she is a jittery mess around her intellectual hubby, Florence is carefree and sensual with the dim Michel. Later Karim agonizes over whether to act on the attention given to him by a young lady who works at the hotel bar. We also get to see the strained relationship Michel has with his teenage son from a previous marriage. As the film progresses we see affairs ended and lovers reunited. All while the two men bump heads trying to finish the documentary.

As I said earlier, a narrator like Woody Allen would have helped since LET IT RAIN reminded me a great deal in structure of HANNAH AND HER SISTERS. Unfortunately RAIN’s characters are not nearly as compelling and interesting and the situations elicit few laughs. Co-writer Jean-Pierre Bacri scores a few smiles with his goofy director, Michel, as he tries to insert his own personal agenda into the interview questions for Agathe. RAIN’s director and co- writer, Agnes Jaoui, plays her as a frazzled and frustrated constantly on the go political rising star, but is strangely unsympathetic even as her relationship with Antoine starts to crumble. Jamel Debbouze is good as the earnest young filmmaker, Karim, but has difficulties in the romantic scenes with his hotel co-worker/ potential lover. The scenes of rural France are beautiful, but the pacing is so lax that the 99-minute length seems much longer. I did get a smile from a couple of American references (one of the young boys dresses up as Superman and Nina Simone plays on the soundtrack), but it’s just not enough for me to recommend this rambling family dramedy.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 stars