kenjha A New Zealand teen copes with the dissolution of her parents' marriage while the family is vacationing at the beach. Directing her first feature film, Jeffs does a good job of capturing the shattering impact a failing marriage can have on children. She also gains intimacy by filming it like a home movie, but needlessly resorts to gimmicks such as slow motion and black and white shots. Fulford-Wierzbicki turns in an affecting performance as the teen struggling to cope with her parents' breakup. Peirse is strangely cold and distant as the mother, perhaps intentionally. Murphy is adorable as Fulford-Wierzbicki's little brother. The ending is contrived. And there's no rain.

LadyinDisguise I will admit firsthand that the main draw for me to this movie was Marton Csokas, who is quite possibly the sexiest man alive. That said, I will focus on the fact that this movie had me laughing and crying, entranced and disturbed. While some people like to focus on Janie's irresponsible (and troubling) actions leading to Jim's death, what about mom & dad? Why isn't anyone blaming them? I was a little bothered by the sight of a young girl seducing a grown man, yet the embarrassing desperation of the mother's need for sex with Cady was also difficult to watch. Janie, in my opinion, was a little girl who was jealous of her mom, and made up her mind to be more alluring to Cady. I thought all the cast was wonderful, but back to Marton. Can any man exude raw sex better than Mr. Csokas? I only know that just watching him kiss a woman got my heart racing, and I would have loved to feel those lips on mine. Overall, this is a movie filled with emotions of every kind, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Ross-c An interesting film with better acting from the child actors than the adults, and great songs from Neil Finn.** SPOILERS **I think the ending is far more complex and subtle than people seem to assume. I see Jim's death as symbolising the end of childhood that comes at the end of the movie. Remember that in literature and movies, events are not always what they seem. As someone else mentioned, after his death, she can never go back to the simple play they enjoyed. Some of the previous comments say that the movie should have ended differently, and even give details of better approaches. I disagree. Sometimes it's better to leave the story incomplete, and leave the meaning ambiguous. That's what this movie does.

mweston A family of four vacations at their beach house in 1970's New Zealand. The parents are Kate (played by Sarah Peirse) and Ed (Alistair Browning), while the children are Janey (Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki, about 13 years old) and Jim (Aaron Murphy, about 8). This sounds rather idyllic, but it is almost immediately obvious that Kate and Ed's marriage is on shaky ground. While the children get along better than most siblings and the parents do seem to care for their children, the adults in the film all drink large quantities of alcohol to numb themselves. The one other significant character is a photographer named Cady (Marton Csokas) who lives on his boat and reminded me a bit of fellow New Zealand actor Russell Crowe. I won't give away much of the plot, because there isn't much there to give away. This is not a criticism -- if anything, it is a compliment to the writers for avoiding unnecessary complications.The main character is Janey, who is in transition from girl to woman. The young first time actress is extremely good and quite believable with this complex material. The boy who plays her brother is also very natural. The adults didn't impress me as much, but then again they were supposed to appear emotionally shut down, and they succeeded admirably. That much of the film's feeling is conveyed without words is a tribute to both the actors and to the direction (by first time director Christine Jeffs). The cinematography didn't seem to me to draw attention to itself, except one shot looking backwards through a hand pushed lawn mower.The New Zealand accents were a bit difficult to understand at times. Without subtitles or the ability to back up and listen again, I did miss a few lines. Home video will likely make this aspect easier, but since much of the film is set outdoors, some of the atmosphere would be lost on the small screen.I am surprised that none of the reviews I have seen compared this film to "The Ice Storm." Both films are set in the 1970's with parents who are emotionally distant and children (child in this case) who are becoming adults. While Ang Lee's film is definitely better in my view, that there is a comparison at all speaks highly for this effort. "Rain" is worth seeing, though probably not going out of your way for.Seen on 6/3/2002.