3 Days of Rain Review
Three Days of Rain is a wonderfully entertaining and thought-provoking film about modern urban life. Finding the basis for his multiple plotlines in the short stories of Anton_Chekhov, writer/director Michael_Meredith has fashioned a fascinating portrait of present-day Cleveland that is both sardonically funny and genuinely moving. Each character is a mess, in his or her own way, but Meredith sketches them with compassion and humor. In addition, Meredith has composed striking images of rain-swept Cleveland that allow his film to transcend being a talkfest. Peter_Falk gives a phenomenal performance as Waldo, an elderly boozehound who can't stop mooching off his kindhearted son, Michael (Bill Stockton). What makes Waldo such a memorable and sometimes hilarious character is his painful self-awareness. When Michael insists on seeing the senior center where he lives, Waldo shamefacedly explains his reticence about introducing his son to his cohabitants: "I assume the part of an abused father sometimes." Joey Bilow, a mentally disabled actor, is very good as Denis, a railroad worker who's not quite the harmless innocent he seems. Erick Avari is very sympathetic in a complex role as a wealthy man struggling with his conscience. Don_Meredith's cab driver character is unnecessarily opaque, and the plotline involving Tess (Merle_Kennedy), the heroin addict who's lost custody of her daughter, is the closest the film comes to devolving into Todd_Solondz-style misanthropy. But overall, Three Days of Rain is a lovely low-concept drama that exemplifies the best of American independent cinema. Josh Ralske, Rovi
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