Raining Stones (1993)

Bob (Bruce Jones) lives with his wife Anne (Julie Brown) and his daughter Coleen (Gemma Phoenix) in a poor English town. Bob scrapes by with whatever odd jobs come his way — working as a bouncer, stealing green turf, cleaning septic tanks. Although Bob has no money and is living on the dole, he is determined to buy his daughter a dress for her first communion. The local parish priest (Tom Hickey) suggests that Bob settle cheaper and get a second-hand dress for Coleen's communion. But Bob will have none of that. Bob wants a new dress for his daughter, and no matter what it takes he will get a dress for her. Unfortunately, Bob has only murky ideas about how to earn the money to buy it. — Paul Brenner

Gripping and powerful...

This Ken Loach film leads to the kind of shattering emotional climax that fans of Rossellini will understand at once. Stay with this even if you are alienated by the setting and seeming desperation of the characters; unlike many of Loach's films, it does not end up leaving one with a sense of deep moral despair.
If you are new to Loach, think of using English subtitles - but at the risk of losing something at the powerful climax. This is my favorite of all his films; I consider him a world class talent. Only Mike Leigh of the current generation of British filmakers is in his league. December 7, 2005

Hard edged and realistic

I'm biased. Two of my friends are in this film (Patrick and Anthony Warde) and a couple of scenes were set in their club.

That said, the film is realistic and set in real locations. Loach didn't have to build sets or work hard to convey the hopelessness of unemployment in a Northern town, the people and places did that for him. His talent is in bringing this to the screen and still giving the people the dignity they deserve as they struggle to make some kind of life in a post-industrial wasteland. February 16, 2000

a film about dignity and respect

I try not to miss a Ken Loach film. Unless I'm ignorant about films, I find few directors nowadays tackling the issues of working class life in our modern capitalist society. When I saw this not entirely unbiased (not necessarily a bad thing) film I felt it was about dignity and respect. In his struggle to provide his daughter with the proper attire for a communion, the worker-father turns it into a matter of principle although linked to survival. At least that's what I got out of it. Check out films by Mike Leigh, John Sayles, Michael Winterbottom. July 25, 1999

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