Quickcard Review Let It Rain (Parlez-moi de la pluie)

Directed by: Agnes Jaoui Cast: Jean-Pierre Bacri, Jamel Debouzze, Agnes Jaoui, Pascale Arbillot Running Time: 2 hrs Rating: R Release Date: July 2, 2010

PLOT: An upcoming politician (Jaoui) is asked to be interviewed by the man (Bacri) her sister is having an affair with.

WHO'S IT FOR?: Fans of dialogue-driven comedies, with this one being in the vein of something that a less-morbid Woody Allen might write.

OVERALL

Sometimes, real life is funny enough. Let It Rain is a charming comedy with honest folk encountering situations that must be stolen from the scripts of our own lives – there’s a hint of romance between two hotel employees, a disagreement on “relationship titles” between an upcoming politician and her boyfriend, and a story of cheating that includes a loving mother and a bumbling documentary filmmaker. All of these characters have their own stories, and they are woven together as dense snippets of what must be a very interesting existence for all of them, one we can imagine would be continued long after their story is done being told in the film. With the mood interchanging between cloudy drama or humor, their lives are as natural and unpredictable as the weather.

The humor of Let It Rain does not come from dialogue that feels struggled over by a screenwriter trying to knock on our funny-bones, nor does it come from slapstick that is funny in the movies, but not possible in real life. Instead, the laughs from this movie come from probable clumsiness, as performed by characters who don’t intentionally play it up for yuks. The key contributor to this movie’s funniness is Jean-Pierre Bacri as the slightly cocky filmmaker who doesn’t know his boundaries in attempting to be professional or smooth. He takes Jaoui’s character, a politician, out to a hillside, and doesn’t consider the wildlife that is abound in the region – their shot is interrupted by a group of goats. Then, there’s the moment when he brings a camera to a baptism later in the film, and while shooting overheard into the baptismal bowl, the microphone falling into the water and landing next to the baptized baby. The movie sticks to this humor throughout and creates a very honest nature. We know these characters, and we have the family and friends that we can imagine living through these stories. Except with Jaoui’s well-written script and delicate direction, we don’t have to.

FINAL SCORE: 7/10