Who'll Stop the Rain

Released in 1978 with the "bigger" Vietnam films (THE DEER HUNTER, COMING HOME), this is an under appreciated gem. Nick Nolte showed signs of becoming a solid leading man with his work here as action junkie Ray Hicks. The supporting cast in smaller, important roles bolsters a tight, moving film. Richard Mazur and Ray Sharkey are ultimate psychos and Charles Haid, as the weasel dope dealer are great. Like Karl Reiz's previous gem (THE GAMBLER), this film deserved to be bigger.

Suprisingly, I'd never heard of this one before. I watched it because my dad had reccommended it to me and I've always liked Nick Nolte. I guess I was expecting a war movie (I'm not terribly fond of them) but what I got was way more than that. Nick Nolte plays one of his best roles ever as merchant marine, Ray Hicks. He's just finished his tour of duty in Vietnam when he is asked a favor by his best friend. What follows next is two hours of tense moments, realistic situations, great music, harsh violence and a finale that was like nothing I have ever seen before.

I enjoyed Michael Moriarity's role as John and Tuesday Weld is great (and beautiful) as always. Richard Masur and Ray Sharkey provide a little bit of comedy relief as a pair of bumbling (but psychotic) idiots. Also, did I mention just how great Nick Nolte is in this movie? I mean, he's always had a strong screen prescence in everything he's ever done, but here, he does such a great job with the part that you really want to know more about his background. There really isn't much explanation as to where he's from and just what he's about, but in the end, you do have a pretty good idea of what makes him tick.

I just watched this for a second time and I'm pretty sure that I will end up picking up the dvd. One thing I can say, after watching this I'll never look at that Creedence song the same way again.

A Vietnam veteran, Ray Hicks (Nick Nolte), gets conned into helping an old Marine friend, John Converse (Michael Moriarty), smuggle drugs into the country but ends up having to go on the run with his friend's wife, Marge Converse (Tuesday Weld), when the deal goes sour. Involving old buddy Nolte and Tuesday Weld in their doomed dope deal, only to wind up on the lam. Things go wrong, it precipitates an exciting chase by a motley group (Anthony Zerbe, Richard Masur, Charles Haid, Ray Sharkey) through the corrupt moral wasteland of counter-culture/CIA- culture America. Try to rip him off and he'll rip you apart!. A week ago they were strangers. An hour ago they were lovers. Now they are targets !.

Thrilling and compelling story of late-60s disillusionment. Dealing with a traumatised Vietnam war correspondent can draw no more cheap morals from the bloody absurdity around him . ¨In a world where elephants are pursued by flying men, everyone's gonna want to to get high¨, Nolte reasons , as he blindly steps into the heroin business and joins the Dog Soldiers. On the way, power-play is mirrored in the casual sadism of the pursuers and the conventional 'MacGuffin' theme of the 2kg bag takes on a metaphorical charge. This film results to be a notable blend of drama, action, suspense and tragedy. Based on Robert Stone's novel 'Dog Soldiers', here Nolte gives a nice acting as a temperamental Vietnam vet who's enlisted in a smuggling scheme to transport a large amount of heroin into California. Along with the three main actors: Nolte, Weld, Moriarty, providing enjoyable interpretation, there's a splendid plethora of secondaries, such as: Anthony Zerbe, Richard Masur, Ray Sharkey, Gail Strickland, Charles Haid, Joaquín Martínez, and David Opatoshu. Outstanding period musical score by composer Laurence Rosenthal and catching songs from Creedence Clearwater Revival, including title song. As well as colorful and evocative cinematography by cameraman Richard H. Kline, shot on location in Durango, Mexico and San Diego, Oakland, Arch Street, Berkeley, Newhall, California, USA.

The motion picture was well directed by Karel Reisz. He nimbly avoids the usual issues, finds the pace of his material early and sustains brilliantly, emerging with a contemporary good film of hard-edge adventure and three superb character studies. Deemed to be one of the most influential 'British New Wave' directors, Reisz was a prestigious editor, writer and filmmaker. In the 1950s he was one of the founders of the Free Cinema movement. His subsequent feature films have often tended to focus on working-class angst and class structure in general, with social outcasts at their center. He wrote his famous book, "The Technique of Film Editing", before becoming involved in professional filmmaking, it was reviewed - not entirely favorably - by an actual film editor, Seth Holt. When Reisz made his first feature film, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (original title) (1960), he hired Holt as his editor. During his later years he worked increasingly in theater direction. Directed three actresses to Oscar nominations: Vanessa Redgrave (Best Actress, Morgan, A Suitable Case for Treatment (1966); Isadora (1968)), Meryl Streep (Best Actress, The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981)), and Jessica Lange (Best Actress, Sweet Dreams (1985). Who'll Stop the Rain(1978) rating: 6.5/10. The film will appeal to Nick Nolte fans.

Criticised for it's amorality and drug use I personally can see Dog Soldiers as nothing else than an anti-drugs film. The heroin that caused such misery and death ends up in the sand by choice. Sickened and disillusioned after Nam, Converse, played brilliantly by Micheal Moriaty virtually blackmails his friend Ray Hicks into smuggling in some Heroin in a cynical what-the-hell gesture against the world. His wife is already hooked on prescription drugs and eventually goes on the heroin. He is out of his league and is forced by corrupt policemen to hunt down Hicks and his wife after they go on the run with the smack. Hicks is a violent man, recently turned on to Nietchze by Converse who considers Hicks a psychopath and is through "taking sh*t from inferior people", vowing destruction on anyone who takes him on. Falling in love with the girl Hick's reveals a surprising tenderness in looking after her. The Converses are seemingly indifferent to Hicks until they realise too late the unexpected Christian sacrifice he makes on their behalf although they wronged him and were unworthy of it.

Nolte, an actor allegedly as eccentric as his fictional character, gives a

multi-faceted and compelling performance as the alienated Hicks. The powerful ending and gesture by the man gives hope and suggests that ultimately friendship is the one true gift one can give to another outside the cynical buying and selling of people as represented by the heroin. Some uneven pacing is the only flaw in an adult, gripping, unusual and often witty American classic.

"Who'll Stop the Rain" is an edge of your seat thriller set during the Viet Nam war. It features one of the early successes of Nick Nolte.

The story opens in Viet Nam where a burnt out reporter (Michael Moriarity) tries to make some easy money by smuggling two kilos of heroin (rather than his usual marijuana) to the U.S. He enlists as his currier Nolte who is somewhat reluctant at first but agrees. Nolte shows up at Moriarity's home to collect his fee from Moriarity's wife (Tuesday Weld) and then the fun begins. Two bogus federal agents (Richard Mazur, Ray Sharkey) begin to lay claim to the smack. They are joined later in the chase by their boss, a corrupt federal agent (Anthony Zerbe).

The performances are top notch all around. Nolte is suitably macho in one of his first big roles. Weld is overwhelmed by the events but soon gives in to Nolte's plans. Moriarity is also good as the naive husband who thinks he can make a quick buck to compensate him for the horrors he has experienced in Viet Nam. Mazur and Sharkey are outstanding as the brutal sadistic heavies and Zerbe is as slimey as ever as the chief baddie.

The Nolte character is somewhat of a mystery (at least to me). Who is he? What is he doing in Viet Nam? Is he a soldier of fortune, a mercenary? or what? He has a run down shack in Los Angeles where he has buried an assault rifle. In Arizona he has an elaborate mountain top hideaway complete with an amphitheater and loudspeakers that play Hank Jones music. None of this is explained to my satisfaction.

What the movie does have is a good story great acting and an entertaining soundtrack featuring Creedence Clearwater Revival.