Tears in the Rain

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.

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.

Contrary to most of the other comments, I found this movie wonderfully romantic and believable. Christopher Cazenove and Sharon Stone had great chemistry together. If you like romantic dramas like I do, you should see this film!

... 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!

This early film starring Sharon Stone is one that you don't want to miss. Great performances by Christopher Cazenove and Paul Daneman compliment Ms. Stone. This is a very compelling and realistic movie. It takes you through the sense of loss, adventure, falling in love, happiness, disappointment, anger, heart-wrenching sadness, and exhilarated happiness. Believe me, once you start this movie, you won't want to leave for a minute. I can't believe I hadn't seen it before now. Great for all ages and the romantics at heart. It's one of those movies that you end up saying to yourself, "only in the movies" with the perfect ending. I plan to add this movie to my collection in the future.