Who'll Stop The Rain (1978)

One the the Best Fims of the Decade

John Converse (Michael Moriarity) plays a morally beaten combat photographer whose idea of a bold, life-changing move is to smuggle a highly profitable quantity of heroin back into the States. Naive and over-his-head,Converse enlists the help of his much more streetwise friend, merchant marine Ray Hicks, played brilliantly by Nick Nolte.

The heroin makes it to Oakland and things go wrong as Converses unknowing wife (Tuesday Weld) and Hicks are pursued by a corrupt federal agent from an unnamed agency (FBI,CIA,DEA,BNDD??) and his two fumbling and amoral goons played greatly by vet actor Richard Masur and the late Ray Sharkey.

Frustrated by the imeptness of Converse but protective of Converse neurotic and clueless wife, Hicks is forced to go on the road from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, trying to pick up some money from the heroin on the way.

I can't think of any film that depicts the collapse of values of once good people that occured in the 70's via drugs and Viet Nam burnout. The idea that a reputable photog and sweet wife would consider selling the worst of drugs is horrible enough- that Weld and Moriarity can play these lost souls with believabilty makes the viewer think they are looking into
human and spiritual tragedy. You may find yourself rooting for Noltes Ray Hicks in this movie as he is the only one capable of taking charge in a chaotic situation, protecting the fragile wife of his befuddled friend, even at the same time protecting a misguided stake in the sale of an addictive and repulsive drug.

Excellent cinematography and great soundtrack featuring Don McLean, Hank Snow and CCR............. May 1, 2008

The best and the brightest

This movie is, without a doubt, the best movie about Viet Nam ever made. Each character we meet has something to say about how we got there, how we avoided facing the truth, and how we denied, not only, responsibility for what we did, we very nearly denied it even happened.

This is worth seeing every few years -- there is always something new to see in it. March 24, 2007

A Forgotten Masterpiece

This is one of the finest, most honest, and most courageous films to come out of the Vietnam Era. Based on Robert Stone's best-selling novel DOG SOLDIERS, it's a war story, a crime story, an action thriller, and a romance. Distinguished by superb cinematic storytelling and incisive vision, it features performances from Nick Nolte, Tuesday Weld, and Michael Moriarty that are among the best in each of their careers. November 10, 2006

Warning Spoiler - READ ONLY at your discretion...

I don't know - do we need a spoiler warning for a film from the 70's at this point? Anyway, this film was a footnote caught somewhere between Apocalypse Now and Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, etc.. But I liked it in the same way as Billy Jack in that it was an unpretentious story driven off pure character and story. No wiz bang special effects (except maybe the finale) here just people caught up in circumstance. But the ending sticks with me to this day. Nolte double-times it off into the distance, at port arms, improbably singing a Jody call (a real old school non-PC one at that). You can't predict nor control and perhaps even understand what life and fate throws at you but to be true to your own nature in spite of it is about as best as anyone can expect. July 3, 2005

Tough Vietnam Era Flick

To the credit of director Karel Reisz, "Who'll Stop The Rain" is a tough uncompromising film that takes an honest look at it's subject matter and doesn't back off. The story concerns a journalist in Vietnam, John Coverse,(Michael Moriarty) who asks his merchant marine buddy, Ray Hicks,(Nick Nolte) to smuggle some heroin back to the States. Hicks does so reluctantly only because Converse is his friend. Once back in the States, Hicks is confronted with a narcotics agent(Anthony Zerbe) and his hired thugs(Ray Sharkey and Richard Masur) trying to hijack the drugs by terrorizing Coverse's wife, Marge(Tuesday Weld). It is now Hicks' sworn duty to protect Marge and unload the stash. The performances in this film by all the principals are uniformly excellent. Though the film is tough going at times it only underlines a strong anti-drug message. A previous reviewer took issue with the film's ending. Not to give anything away, I disagree with that assessment though I've never read the film's source material, Robert Stone's "Dog Soldiers". "Who'll Stop The Rain" is another example of the adventurous filmmaking that was a product of the seventies. February 19, 2005

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