The Rain People

R

1969

1 hr. 42 min.

Drama

List

85%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

62%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Upon learning that she's pregnant, housewife Natalie Ravenna (Shirley Knight) leaves her husband and embarks on a road trip of self-discovery. On her odyssey across America, Natalie picks up troubled hitchhiker Jimmie Kilgannon (James Caan), a college football player whose life was shattered when he sustained brain damage. But, as she later learns when she meets a lovelorn police officer named Gordon (Robert Duvall), trying to help these lost souls isn't without its dangers.

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CodyZamboni

Road trip movie where two people try to find purpose in life, and find an emotional bond with each other, despite some severe limitations, Movie's strengths are the first rate performances by Shirley Knight and James Caan, as damaged, empathetic, original characters.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

08/02/23

Full Review

Steve D

I can't believe this talent made this bad of a film.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/23/23

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Audience Member

Francis Ford Coppola has directed some of the greatest motion pictures of all time and while this is not one of them it is still a great little film and shows the innate talent that would make Coppola such an incredible creative force. You also get to see relatively young Robert Duvall and James Caan display their abilities early in their career along with Shirley Knight of Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) fame. What the film boasts other than being a sign of better things to come is a genuinely interesting story that is told sensitively by the director of the film and portrayed with vivacity by the cast. Stressed pregnant housewife Natalie Ravenna, Shirley Knight, runs away from her husband and heads out on the road alone in an attempt to find herself. She encounters former football player with mental issues, Jimmy "Killer" Kilgannon, James Caan, along the way and strikes up a friendship with him before attempting to ditch him when she discovers his tragic past. She flirts with police officer Gordon, Robert Duvall, who attempts to have a sexual experience with her but it is interrupted by his mischievous daughter and his memories of his wife and her traumatic death. When Natalie attempts to leave she finds that he becomes too aggressive and cocks a gun at him before Killer arrives and is shot by Gordon's daughter after a tussle. In 1969 it was obviously a far more novel idea that a woman could be an independent free spirit who has sexual affairs with multiple men but this film does transport you back to that time period as you see her speaking in hushed tones to her husband and bearing the consternation of her parents. Her ambivalence about her future and the consequences she eventually has to face for her irresponsible actions feel very in line with a lot of other films coming out in the late 1960s like The Graduate (1967) and Easy Rider (1969) but this film felt more contemplative. Yes, we see fairly graphic sexual content and violence towards the end of the film but this woman travels in a plain looking car instead of on a motor cycle and flirts with taking advantage of Killer before trying to offload him onto someone else. I appreciated seeing a film that didn't feel it needed loud music or elaborate direction to convey it's main points and this sort of film should still be being made today just with updated social values. The relationship between Natalie and Gordon was one of the most interesting things in the film because we only really see him in the last 30 minutes of screen time and yet you feel like this is exactly the sort of man a woman like this would be attracted to. He initially seems very stable and yet when we return to his trailer and find his brassiere wearing daughter causing trouble as he attempts to have sex with a woman he barely knows in the same room we understand that he is a broken man. He seems broken in a fairly realistic way though which feeds into the film's portrayal of middle America and Duvall's sympathetic performance makes us understand the character even as he takes questionable action. You want to see this man succeed in a way as you learn about his grief and guilt while you also sense the fact that he may be dangerous to a woman that we want to see have fun and flirt with danger while not being drawn into such terrible trauma. The climax of the film leaves us stunned as we are unaware of where the story is going to go next but I would have loved to have found out. In terms of performances I would say that three main cast members all do a very good job with Knight being reminiscent of Barbara Loden in Wanda (1970). Caan is sweet as the mentally struggling ex football player and we are devastated by his death but he is matched by Duvall who is dark and authoritative in just a small amount of screen time. If you want to watch a film that features great work from these actors this is it.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Surprised that Danny Peary, in his book Cult movies, only considers Natalie's story/women's representation. I think if that piece wasn't balanced by Killer's story and the America of the film, it would have been much poorer. His points are no less valid, or interesting. -feminist criticisms of the film. Would feminists still take issue with Natalie's promiscuous goals? Peary defends them as a realistic character choice and not just creepy male gaze stuff. -Coppola's success at this woman-centred film before going on to a very male-dominated oeuvre. -Coppola's - and Peary's! - sympathy for Natalie are charming: she's just not ready now, she needs her space, and it's possible for those to be true AND natalie to still love her husband.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

7.7/10, my review: http://wp.me/p1eXom-2k4

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Did you ever just want to take off? Leave your mess and go where the road goes? It's never the answer. You have to turn around some time. If you can even do it anymore. Nowadays, if you use a credit card, if you have a phone or a GPS, you can be found. But somewhere, for a minute, between the exits on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, you feel free. So what's wrong with Natalie? Is she stifled by the roles thrust upon her? Is she at an existential crossroads? Or is she just selfish? Films like The Rain People never answer those questions, they want to leave them open. I'm coming around to the notion that the best movies aren't the ones that take a stand and dare you to reject it. The best films are Rorschach tests for their viewers, where any comments about them tell you more about the speaker than the movie. The Rain People was made in 1969, when its director Francis Ford Coppola was not yet an overindulged genius and was merely a budding genius. It's very much of its time - a road movie, generally plotless, the main character questioning the values that have been thrust upon her, against the backdrop of grotesque Americana. One might wish Coppola had kept making small movies. As impressive as the Godfather movies are, I have trouble with films that ennoble scumbags (I have the same problem with Gone with the Wind). I prefer movies like this. Watch it if you get the chance. It will stay with you.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

11/16/15

Full Review

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Francis Ford Coppola

Director

James Caan

"Killer" Kilgannon

Shirley Knight

Natalie Ravenna

Robert Duvall

Gordon

Marya Zimmet

Rosalie

Tom Aldredge

Mr Alfred

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Variety Staff

Variety

An overlong, brooding film incorporating some excellent photography.

Dec 11, 2007

Full Review

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.

Jun 24, 2006

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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.

Rated: 4/4

Oct 23, 2004

Full Review

Manny Farber

Artforum

The Rain People is a fine example of acting and writing that exploits modern dislocation, the mulling, glumness, and revery of people in tight places.

Jun 18, 2019

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

Arty pretensions.

Rated: B

Jul 28, 2010

Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

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

Sep 25, 2009

Full Review

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Synopsis

Upon learning that she's pregnant, housewife Natalie Ravenna (Shirley Knight) leaves her husband and embarks on a road trip of self-discovery. On her odyssey across America, Natalie picks up troubled hitchhiker Jimmie Kilgannon (James Caan), a college football player whose life was shattered when he sustained brain damage. But, as she later learns when she meets a lovelorn police officer named Gordon (Robert Duvall), trying to help these lost souls isn't without its dangers.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Screenwriter: Francis Ford Coppola
Production Co: American Zoetrope, Seven Arts Pictures, Warner Bros.
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 22, 2009

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