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James Caan, Shirley Knight, Robert Duvall, Marya Zimmet, Tom Aldredge ... see more see more... , Andrew Duncan , Margaret Fairchild , Sally Gracie , Alan Manson , Robert Modica , Laurie Crews , Laura Hope Crews

Despite an effort by the Warner Bros. publicity mills to turn The Rain People into an instant cult film upon its first release (the ad campaign stressed the intimacy and humanity of the story), this e... read more read more...arly Francis Ford Coppola effort would have to wait several years to find its audience. Shirley Knight stars as Natalie, a housewife who, unable to cope with being "trapped" by impending pregnancy, deserts her husband and takes to the road. Eager to start life over, Natalie attaches herself to hitchhiker Kilgannon (James Caan). She is fully aware that Kilgannon, a former football pro, has incurred so much brain damage that he's practically a child but insists upon sticking with him. Along the way, she has a variety of offbeat experiences with such eccentrics as a snake-farmer (Tom Aldredge) and a widowed traffic-cop (Robert Duvall). An unexpectedly violent turn of events, triggered by the traffic cop's troubled daughter (Marya Zimmet), leaves Natalie virtually back where she started. Director Coppola was still laboring under the influence of the French New Wave in The Rain People; there are so many flashbacks and flashforwards that soon even the actors don't know where they stand. Yes, it's an example of youthful cinematic excess, but there's a streak of genius in The Rain People that is impossible to miss. Coppola based his screenplay on his own short story "Echoes." ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Flixster Users

62% liked it

648 ratings

Critics

82% liked it

11 critics

R, 1 hr. 41 min.

Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

Release Date: August 27, 1969

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Flixster Reviews (57)

  • pier007
    May 7, 2012
    pier007
    In the John Huston tradition of losers who take the road to find themsemelves, getting in contact with people with more and deeper needs to their pathetic and meaningless existence. Coppola's first mature plunge in filmmaking hits the right chords. He's both sensitive and crude,... read more when needed for the sake of such a heartbreaking story.
  • fb1142797643
    December 17, 2011
    fb1142797643
    "Rebels on the road" films were all the rage in the late '60s, but "The Rain People" adds a twist: The rebel is somebody's wife, and she's driving a station wagon.

    Shirley Knight is newly pregnant, and panicking about the responsibilities of settling down. She has so little sens... read moree of identity that she often talks about herself in the third person. While her husband is still asleep, she sneaks away with no clear destination in mind. Soon she picks up a hitchhiker with the ironic nickname "Killer" (James Caan, shorn of his trademark curls). Caan is a former college football star who suffered a career-ending head injury during a game. After some time in a menial job on campus, he left school. He has the vacant demeanor of someone with brain damage (he doesn't even remember how to play "Simon Says"), and others casually mislead and take advantage of him.

    Knight picks him up, not realizing how alone and helpless he is. He proves harder to unload than expected, partly due to circumstance and partly due to her sympathy. Multiple efforts to secure him a niche fail (the most vivid sequence involves a sleazy poultry farmer whose overstuffed coop might not be allowed on film today), and Caan continues as her sidekick on a trip to nowhere. In the final act, she encounters a small-town highway cop (Robert Duvall) who becomes crucial to the film's climax.

    Francis Ford Coppola's direction is solid, but does not mark him as a future giant. Realizing his story is minimal, he is content with a slow pace, lingering on driving footage and incidental behavior. The first four minutes don't even contain dialogue. His boldest choice is inserting various flashback fragments to fill in details from the characters' past lives -- this device works quite well, in a French New Wave mode. Meanwhile, all three central performances are striking. Caan's work is particularly impressive, given that he's limited to such a small emotional range in a role which easily could turn farcical.

    Naturally, the presence of the young Coppola, Caan and Duvall is the most pressing reason to see this minor film (and of course, all three worked on "The Godfather" three years later). Another interesting tidbit is that George Lucas is credited as a "production associate," and in fact made a short documentary called "Filmmaker" about the shoot.

    My own favorite touch: the roadside stop with a large sign boasting "FREE PICNIC TABLES."
  • michaelcorleone
    August 31, 2010
    michaelcorleone
    A languid, gently beautiful film that provides a lot of unique insight into over-explored themes. Coppola does fantastic things with cinematography and editing.

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Critic Reviews

Variety Staff
December 11, 2007
Variety Staff, Variety

An overlong, brooding film incorporating some excellent photography. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 23, 2004
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

As for Coppola and his world, It's difficult to say whether his film is successful or not. That's the beautiful thing about a lot of the new, experimental American directors. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Like its main character, the movie hits the road with no final destination in mind, and the manic inventiveness that sustains the early passages becomes strained and weird by the end. Full Review

Dennis Schwartz
July 28, 2010
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Arty pretensions. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
September 25, 2009
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Coppola charts a perilous new freedom both in people's lives and in the industry Full Review

December 11, 2007
TV Guide's Movie Guide

This odd odyssey was not a hit, even though over the years it has been regarded as one of Coppola's more personal pictures and has attained a limited following. Full Review

Tom Milne
June 24, 2006
Tom Milne, Time Out

Coppola's fourth feature, a fascinating early road movie made entirely on location with a minimal crew and a constantly evolving script. Full Review

May 24, 2003
Film4

There are acres of psychoanalytic material to juggle with, and Caan and Duvall are superb as the brain-damaged football player and the sex-obsessed policeman respectively. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
August 7, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Philip Martin
May 6, 2005
Philip Martin, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

No review available.

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    • Kilgannon: The rain people are made of rain, and when they cry, they disappear altogether.
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The Rain People Trivia

  • Qoute: "I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near Tanhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to die." Movie?  Answer »
  • Kicking the hell out of people while singing "Singing In The Rain". What film is this?  Answer »
  • This famous quote is from which movie? I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.   Answer »
  • In A Clockwork Orange, what was the song Alex was singing when he was harrasing people?   Answer »
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