First, this is NOT a film of the Richard Greenberg play that Julia Roberts tanked in on Broadway; that is due in 2008. This film attempts to adapt six Anton Chekhov short stories into 72 hours in rain-soaked Cleveland. To say that it, too, tanks - would be an understatement. The joy of re-interpreting the great Russian author's smaller works must have pleased writer/director Michael Meredith more than it does the viewer. The six stories never intersect as one might expect, depriving the viewer of some sense of a dramatic fabric. If, perhaps, they had been played in a linear fashion, one following the other instead of inter-cut, the limited nature of their sad stories might have been a bit more satisfying. Or had Meredith let the viewer know that these were unconnected stand-alone stories based on existing stories, expectations for more might have been tempered. But as it is, six stories are just too many. Adding to the soggy woe, the majority of the simple tales are weighed down by lonely and unlikeable characters, the obvious and dreary 'umbrella' theme of a three day rainstorm, and some highly uneven playing by the actors. Limited to short-story characters, most of them strive in vain to create even the most basic character arc. THREE DAYS OF RAIN will inevitable be compared to CRASH (it pales) and - all too soon - Richard Greenberg's far more intriguing narrative.
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NJMoon14 October 2007
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temporaryname218 November 2009While I didn't enjoy it as much as Crash, I thought it had some interesting elements to it. First off its set in a rain soaked Cleveland over a period of 72 hours. Okay, so basically that means THE WHOLE MOVIE is set in the RAIN. Not much more than that, its a morose drama with some good ideas that pretty much get ruined by bad acting and predictability. Some may argue that the movie just aims to make you feel bad and bring a sense of gloom to your day. While it does just that (and succeeds) it far less captures you, and just tries too hard to make you feel sorry for the characters whom none of which are likable. There's one scene with the baby (those who have seen it know which) and the mother that you knew what was going to happen before it did. It was all too contrived. It really took a turn for the worst on pretty much every result of the characters actions (and not in a good way, just a plain suck-ish way). It left you scratching your head not in disbelief but in an "Youve gotta be kidding me" kinda way. Not recommended unless you want to be depressed and love bad acting or vague representations of Chekov. Avoid like the plague.
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rickshroeder17 December 2009This is not a Hollywood film. Do not watch this movie if you are looking for an escape; it just the opposite. This is a wholly depressing movie, but one that is worth watching. It is a realistic look at life, and how tough it can be. I found myself examining my own life after this film, and while it is a depressing movie; it made me think about the things that I appreciate.Yes, some of the acting in this movie is horrendous, but there are others who give a realistic portrait of life in the dumps. I wouldn't call this movie entertaining, but it will make you think. Any film that will leave you thinking well after its done, is a film worth watching in my book.
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mark.waltz21 December 2013According to Drew Carey, Cleveland rocks, but here, it rains, and the rain is a metaphor for the sad lives of the residents explored here. It's a mixed bag, some characterizations rich and vibrant and others sad and pathetic. Half a dozen Chekhov short stories were modernized and adapted for life in this Ohio city which is one of a few large cities on Lake Erie. It appears that the Cleveland I remember from my youth (living in Erie P.A.) hasn't changed much from the industrial town it was, and if you weren't shuffling off to Buffalo (at the far east end of the lake), you were heading out to see the Indians.
The film weakly dramatizes the lives of unhappy people, a long-time married couple who begin to drift apart because the wife, of all people, is aghast by her husband's preoccupation with a homeless person she refused to give restaurant leftovers to, a cab driver dealing with rude passengers (especially a drunk who suddenly begins to psychologically analyze him) while coming to terms with his son's death, and a mentally retarded janitor who is accused of removing vital lug nuts from train tracks. There's also the drug-addicted young woman who was forced to give up her baby (and is hired by the adoptive father who just happens to be the natural father too to be the baby sitter), an elderly man who can't prevent himself from constantly trying to scam his own son, and the tile maker who forces his way into the home of a client's widow in order to get paid for services rendered.
The unpleasant mix of stories makes this difficult to watch and the way many of the stories are wrapped up (if they are at all) leaves the viewer feeling incomplete. My favorite character was the compassionate Erick Avari who is a very successful businessman questioning his own existence outside of success, much like the character of Ben Stone in the Stephen Sondheim musical of "Follies". His wife is so cold that she doesn't see the humanitarian desires her husband displays, only her ideal that if they stopped to help every homeless or needy person in Cleveland, they'd be broke or suicidal. This gives the movie a feeling of hopelessness and the sad selfish view that the world has moved into over the past decades as the economy has a massive impact on more than just the businesses forced to declare Chapter 11.
Peter Falk plays a character like none he's ever played, a charming but amoral elderly man who seems determined to drink his pension, knowing he can sucker his son into helping him anytime the money runs out. Blythe Danner has a meaningless cameo as a taxi passenger who has an instant nervous breakdown after learning of the driver's son's death, as if she was Mother Courage, Mother Teresa and Tammy Faye Baker rolled into one. Joan Allen gives a deeply touching performance as the widow who must deal with the pushy tile maker, an obnoxious character who handles being right in a very wrong way. Then, there's the prissy condo receptionist who fires up the tile maker's wrath, a character so puckered with cynicism and bitchiness you wonder why he doesn't end up a corpse simply by his nasty attitude.
I felt sorry for the cab driver, especially when stuck with the drunken partiers, but admired the young black man in the car who stuck up for him, basically telling his obnoxious friend to shut up. Other passengers seemed either too involved in their own world to care what kind of suffering this man was going through and how he was reaching out to everybody he could to find some human connection in a time when that is obviously gone with the wind. The story of the retarded janitor is disturbing, especially in the sense that it indicates that characters like this shouldn't be entrusted with responsibility. Overall, the movie is depressing and melancholy, an artistic failure that I basically sat open-mouthed through waiting to find other likable characters than the wealthy Avari and the emotionally drained cab driver. -
I enjoyed this movie better than Crash. It is just as thought-provoking but without the Hollywood action thrown in. I also found the situations to be far more heart rendering. If you liked Crash, please see 3 Days of Rain. I left the theater with my friends at 9pm and we did not stop talking about it until midnight but could have gone on longer. You will find yourself asking the questions: What would I do if..? How would you feel / react ...? Although it's set in a constant dark rain, it is stimulating, and as my friends will attest, extremely thought-provoking. I wish more movies were worth my time and money. Definitely a movie to rent and see with friends. Excellent acting. Many surprising cameos.