Contents
A review of the movie “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” starring Nick Nolte and Tuesday Weld.
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Introduction
In “Who’ll Stop the Rain,” Nick Nolte and Michael Moriarty play drug smugglers who find themselves caught in the crossfire of the soggy, humid Vietnam War. The movie, which is based on a book by Robert Stone, is a downbeat but sometimes stirring film about the cynicism and betrayal that can lurk beneath even the most noble intentions.
Mr. Nolte, looking appropriately bedraggled, plays Ray Hicks, a merchant marine who becomes involved in smuggling heroin from Vietnam to California. Mr. Moriarty is John Converse, a disillusioned former newsman who has gone to Vietnam to work for an organization that provides shelter and medical care for war refugees.
The two men team up when Converse decides that he wants out of Vietnam and Hicks offers to help him get home by providing him with false passports and other forged documents. But before they can leave, they must make one last trip into the mist-shrouded jungle to pick up some more heroin.
Plot
The film opens with Nick Nolte walking through the New Orleans French Quarter in rain, looking for his former girlfriend, Joanna Cassidy. Nolte is a disillusioned Vietnam veteran who has just been fired from his job as a reporter for a local newspaper. He is offered a job as a political campaign manager by a candidate for the U.S. Senate, but he turns it down. Nolte then tries to sell his Vietnam War memoirs to publishers in New York City, but is unsuccessful. While in New York, he meets up with an old army buddy, Michael Moriarty, who is now a successful lawyer. Moriarty offers Nolte a job as his law partner in San Francisco, but Nolte declines and returns to New Orleans.
Nolte then reconnects with Cassidy, who is now married to John Goodman and working as a welfare caseworker. The three of them go out to dinner, and Nolte tells Goodman that he is thinking of moving to San Francisco. Goodman tries to dissuade him, telling him that New Orleans is his home and that he should stay there and fight for what he believes in.
The next day, Cassidy tells Nolte that she is pregnant and that she does not want Goodman to know about it because she knows he will not approve of her having the baby. She asks Nolte to help her get an abortion, but he refuses and tells her she should tell Goodman about the pregnancy. She says she will think about it.
Later, Nolte meets with some old army buddies who are now members of the Ku Klux Klan. They offer him a job as their Grand Dragon (leader), but he declines. He then goes to visit an old Vietnamese woman whom he had helped during the war. She tells him that he did more for her and her family than he will ever know and gives him a small box containing an amulet which she says will protect him from evil spirits.
The next day, Cassidy comes to visit Nolte at his apartment and tells him she has decided to have the baby and wants him to be the child’s godfather. He agrees and they hugged each other goodbye..
Cast
The movie “Who’ll Stop the Rain” is a great example of the drug culture of the 1970s. The film revolves around Nick Nolte’s character, who is trying to smuggle heroin from Vietnam in order to make some quick cash. The film also stars Tuesday Weld and Michael Moriarty. The cast does a great job of depicting the desperation and hopelessness of the characters.
Music
Wholl Stop The Rain is a 1978 film starring Nick Nolte and Tuesday Weld. The film is set in the mid-1970s during the final days of the Vietnam War. Nolte plays Ray, a Special Forces soldiers who is trying to get out of the army and return home to his wife and child. Weld plays his wife, who is struggling to keep her family together.
The film is notable for its use of popular music from the era, including Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Who’ll Stop the Rain” and Bob Dylan’s “Hurricane”. The soundtrack also features songs by Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen, and Patti Smith.
Wholl Stop The Rain was directed by Karel Reisz and written by Robert Stone, based on his novel Dog Soldiers. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, for Best Actor (Nolte) and Best Cinematography ( Reynold Brown).
cinematography
Wholl Stop The Rain is a great film that explores the issues of race and class in America. The cinematography is top-notch, and the acting is superb. The film is set in the late 1970s, and it deals with a group of friends who are trying to escape the poverty and racism of their hometown.
The story is told through the eyes of Ray (played by John Travolta), a white man who has been living in New York City for several years. He returns to his hometown in Louisiana to visit his friends, and he is shocked by the poverty and racism that he sees there. Ray’s friends are all black, and they are trying to make a better life for themselves. They are struggling to find jobs, and they are living in squalor.
Ray’s friends ask him to help them get out of their situation, and he agrees to help them. He helps them get false identification so they can get jobs, and he also helps them find a place to live. However, things do not go as planned, and the friends find themselves in danger.
The film is an important portrait of America in the late 1970s, and it shows how race and class can affect people’s lives. It is also a great example of how cinema can be used to tell a story about real life issues.
Editing
The editing in this film is superb. It creates a feeling of unease and tension throughout, which is perfect for a film set during the Vietnam War. The shots are often handheld, which adds to the sense of chaos and confusion, and verite techniques are used to great effect. The use of archival footage is also well done and helps to create a sense of time and place.
Themes
The film follows the intertwining lives of three Vietnam veterans--Delorme, who has become a wanderer living off the land; China White, a heroin addict; and Billy, who is trying to forget his time in the war and build a new life with his wife Donnie. The three men are brought back together by tragedy, and their journey takes them through the bayous of Louisiana as they search for a way to escape their past.
Wholl Stop the Rain is a powerful film that explores the themes of addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the Vietnam War. The performances by Nick Nolte, Michael Moriarty, and Powers Boothe are outstanding, and the film’s depiction of the Vietnam War is brutal and realistic. Wholl Stop the Rain is an excellent film that is sure to leave a lasting impression on viewers.
Reception
The film was not a box office success, grossing only $6 million USD against its $12 million budget.
Critical reception for Wholl Stop the Rain was generally negative. Rotten Tomatoes has a score of 22% based on 10 reviews.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a feel-good movie with a happy ending, “Who’ll Stop the Rain” is not the film for you. However, if you don’t mind a bit of darkness and despair, this is a well-made film with excellent performances by its three leads. Michael Cimino’s direction is top-notch, and despite the movie’s downbeat themes, it’s oddly compelling and ultimately rewarding.
Further Reading
If you enjoyed “Who’ll Stop the Rain” and would like to explore the Vietnam War further, we suggest the following resources:
-The Vietnam War: An Intimate History by Geoffrey Ward and Ken Burns
-We Were Soldiers Once…And Young by Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway
-The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
-Apocalypse Now
