Les passions oubliées

I recently (November 2003) saw the movie "Tears in the Rain" on television. It is a great romantic movie without a naked sex-activity scene. I'm glad the television network replayed this 1988 movie. I had previously seen Mr. Cazenove in "A Knight's Tale" and "Three Men and a Little Lady" and thought he had more acting ability than what was written. I'm glad I had the opportunity to see him in this movie. His facial and eye expressions do indeed portray a deeper acting ability. Also noted is his agility and fluid body movement as emphasized in the last scenes of the movie when he comes around the couch to embrace Sharon Stone's character when she breaks down. Mr. Cazenove's acting gave this movie credence. Ms Stone's acting gave an air of "fakeness" (of course I realize that this is one of her first movies and so no cruelty is meant.) The actors portraying Jessie, young Lord Richard, older Lord Richard and older Lady Emily gave good performances and did indeed lend to the believability of the story line.

I love watching this movie over and over again. I thought the characters were wonderful.

Those with a cynical view or experience of love need not bother with this movie. Those who have dreamed that love could be deep and lasting will enjoy this movie but find it unrealistic. Those who have experienced this type of love will be gratified watching this movie and will find such a love very well and accurately depicted.

It is sad that the Shakespearean actor Paul Daneman, who gave such a nuanced and convincing portrayal of the middle age man whose love never ends, has recently died. His performance gave this movie its seriousness and credibility. Sharon Stone gave the performance of her life in this early film. This role provided a range of emotions and situations and she portrayed every one of them movingly and accurately. Her vivacious and multifaceted character is one every man will fall in love with.

It is unfortunate for move lovers that this film was so poorly and so briefly promoted that millions who would have loved it will never see it. (A newly produced DVD will be available on Feb. 28, 2006.)

Christopher Cazenova and Sharon Stone are charming in this movie, but their talent is wasted in an implausible script. The plotline was highly unbelievable and only the performances of some of the cast make it worth watching at all. Leigh Lawson is very amusing as Cazenova's womanizing Arab friend and Anna Massey is interestingly ruthless as Cazenova's mother. If you should happen to get this on tape I would keep the remote control handy so that you can fast forward as needed.

... BUT! ... Prepare to be EXTRAORDINARILY disappointed with the LOUSY image quality of the 2003 DVD release from "Legacy Entertainment" that I happened to be crippled with when I saw this.

I'm a technically competent person who recognized the symptoms of a cheap copy straight-from-videotape. Colors are washed out and you can even see the garbled scan lines at the bottom of the screen from the crease of the original video-tape source. Fans of Sharon Stone may agree with me that if you walked into a theater and found this playing on the screen and someone asked you, "Who is that actress playing Casey Cantrell?", you might say, "I have no idea". She's YOUNG in this movie!