Page 8-The Michigan Daily-Wednesday, March 31, 1993
'Rain' could use some thunder
by Camilo Fontecilla
It is the year 2042, 10 years after abortion was
declared unconstitutional in the United States of
America.Itis therefore now a fully punishable crime
by government judicial standards. But the law is
biased; upper-class women who can afford to travel
do so to other countries where abortion is still legal.
The law becomes, then, a trap for women of lower
Rain without Thunder
Written and directed by Gary Bennett; with Betty
Buckley, Carolyn McCormick, Ali Thomas,
Linda Hunt, Austin Pendleton, Jeff Daniels, Iona
Morris
classes and less affluent races.
And so enters "The Unborn Child Kidnapping
Act", a new law designed to snag women who are
leaving the country with the intention of aborting
abroad. If enough evidence of an abortion is col-
lected, these women can be convicted for five to 10
years in prison even though the act wasn't commit-
ted on American soil, simply based on the fact that
the unborn fetus was "kidnapped" against its will
and subsequently murdered.
Allison Goldring (Ali Thomas), a young college
student, is the first woman to be tried under this new
law. Both her and her mother, Beverley Goldring
(Betty Buckley), are convicted to seven years of
incarceration at Walker Point, a women's correc-
tional facility . A reporter (Carolyn McCormick),
curious about the development of this case, decides
to fully examine the validity of the new law; armed
with a recording device, she sets out to interview
anyone who can facilitate her information on the
case.
Gary Bennett manages to make a porridge out of
all the interviewed people that is sometimes hot and
sometimes cold. The individuals questioned by the
reporter responded to different perspectives on the
same subject, but their characterization, with few
exceptions, boiled down to two common denomina-
tors: the "good" (pro-choice) and the "bad" (pro-
life). The film falls head overheels on itself; by using
the documentary format, it attempts to simulate
reality, but the views offered are far from balanced.
It would have been much more interesting if the
arguments on both sides were plausible, but it be-
comes so one-sided that it's short from ludicrous.
Let's take, for example, the Catholic priest (Aus-
tin Pendleton) that presents the religious standpoint.
His looming figure is filmed from below, set against
astained glass window anda huge fan blowing in the
cathedral's hazy interior. Anew interpretation of the
Bible, the Law of the Messiah, he explains, states
that an abortion could jeopardize the retum of the
Messiah to earth if he should arrive, as he did with
Mary, through a conventional pregnancy. Next, cut
to Allison, exceedingly unhappy in prison, plagued
with nightmares, feeling that she didn't do anything
wrong. It's not too hard to guess where our sympa-
thies are suggestively directed.
The film is plagued with these tricks. It would
have been far more effective to present both sides of
the issue from an equally fair standpoint. As it is,
"Rain without Thunder" will make those who are
pro-choice to cheer, and those who are pro-life to be
angry. Bennett is apparently trying to make his film
a vehicle for social change, but it will undoubtedly
fail as such, because it's simply not controversial
enough for this purpose
To its credit, some of the characters are decidedly
interesting. One of them, the African American
attorney Andrea Murdoch (Iona Morris), who wins
the Goldring case on the grounds of the new kidnap-
ping law, is thankfully complex. Her viewpoints on
social unfairness within the legislature of the abor-
tion laws are very acceptable, but she is still por-
trayed as an icy, ultra-conservative woman.
The head of the Atwood Society for Women
(Linda Hunt) has much historical information to
share; through her, we trace the evolution of the
abortion laws and its links to the decline in the
economy and the rising conservative mentality at the
turn of the millennium. The more didactic parts,
which would seemingly be the driest, reveal the
thorough theoretical research that Bennett did for his
script, and they pay off. They are convincingly real,
as opposed to the sentimentality that envelops other
parts of the film.
The main problem with the film is that it's too
episodic, and although there is an increase of tension
and a certain build in the plot as new circumstances
come to affect the Goldring case, it all turns out to be
too haphazard and lacks a solid consistency. Trying
to reach too many facets of the abortion dilemma,
Bennett forgets to make his film work as a whole. It's
hard to feel for any of the actors involved because the
focus of the film constantly skips from one thing to
another.
The actors deliver impeccably and are to be
commended for a superb level of realism. To do the
film a little justice, it is extremely amusing at times
and highly thoughtful at others. What is lacking is
something to pull it all together, and further com-
plexity in the wide array of characters presented. But
considering it's amovie thatrelies completely on the
conversations between the reporter and her
interviewees, it comes off reasonably well. If it
scares those who are pro-choice into becoming even
more active, then it might have served its purpose
after all.
RAIN WITHOUT THUNDER will be playing at
the Michigan Theatre.
r
R ECORDS
Continued from page 5
while his satiric "What Did They Do
With The President's Brain?" is just
silly. But for every misstep Hall takes,
he make up for it with a promising, if
slightly familiar, song. Hall's eerie
acoustic cover of Led Zeppelin's
"Trampled Underfoot" is equaled by
thecreepy "Bleeding toDeath"andtwo
glimpses into desperate Midwestern
romance - "Demolition Moon" and
the overlong title track. Hall's voice is
quite thin and plain and frequently
uninvolving, making backing vocalist
KrisMcKay'sleadon "Baby, You Scare
Me" a real treat. McKay's vocals show
that Hallmay be better off writing songs
and not performing.
-Tom Erlewine
Etta James
The Right Time
Elektra
What passes for rock-and-roll these
days... sigh.
Fortunately, there are still singers
like Etta James to show the young'ns
how it's done. Her latest consists of 11
(mostly new) songs recorded at the leg-
endary Muscle Shoals studio in
Sheffield, Alabama Displaying all the
'tude of women half of her 54 years,
Etta rocks it like nobody's business in
well-known numbers like "Nighttime
is the Right Time" and "Ninety-nine
and aHalf Won't Do." But newer stuff,
written by the likes of George Jackson
and Billy Vera are also well-worth a
listen; Jackson's "Wet Match" is par-
ticularly smart.
Things really get rolling toward the
middle of the disc, with a James-Steve
Winwood duet called "Give It Up," and
with James' own song (written with
Josh Sklair) about destitution in South-
Central, "Let it Rock." And with aband
like the one assembled here, (Steve
Ferrone on drums, Steve Cropper on
guitar, Lucky Peterson on guitar and
organ, Willie Weeks on bass and Clayton
Ivey on keyboards) there's no going
wrong. Furthermore, the brass section
on cuts like "You're Taking up Another
Man's Place," rips and storms, making
music that, in the liner notes, James
calls, "Not just right, but righteous."
Amen.
-Michelle Weger
Gee, I live in Ann Arbor and I've never seen an animation festival before.
Thne 'Best' of Animati onr
by John R. Rybock
If it's Ann Arbor and it's a month with a vowel in it, there must be an animation
festival. And indeed there is-The Best of the International Tournee ofAnimatio#
comes to the State Theater.
Animation fans have much to rejoice about. The International Tournee oc
Animation has featured some of the best work in the field. And here is the best of
the best, from "Technological Threat" to "The Cat Came Back" to "Tin Toy" (ail
nominated for an Academy Award in 1988, with "Tin Toy" winning out). And
those who have not caught one of the many animation festivals to hit this town,
this festival is a perfect introductory course.
Not only are these films some of the best in the genre, but they are a diverse
lot.Representedhereis stop motion ("Ode
toG.I. Joe"), claymation ("CreatureCom-
The Best of the forts), computer animation ("Tin Toy")
International Tournee of andconventionaldrawinginmanyforms.
'TAm Toy" was the first computer a-
Animation mated film to win an Oscar. The method
of animating by computer has come a
long way since its early days in "Tron," with "Toy" featuring a very nicely done
computeranimated baby. "Tin Toy" beatout"Technological Threat" forthe Oscat.
"Threat" also features computer animation in amore conventional way - the film
makers printed outlines of the computer generated characters on cells and painted
them conventionally, allowing the computer characters to blend in with the hand-
painted ones (Disney could learn a few things there).
Most of the films shown have been selected for humor and/or music. Almost
all are prominent in the first category. Academy Award winner "Creaturb
Comforts" is a hilarious piece which shows what careful planning and study can
do - it features claymation animals answering the question "How do you like
living in the zoo?" with very human mannerisms.
On the musical side is "Face Like a Frog." Those who have heard Danny
Elfman's "Music for a Darkened Theater" and wondered about that piece can see
what it was written for. "The Cat Came Back" is a fine combination offoottapping
music and humor, about aman who picks up a stray and has his life torn to shreds.
Included in late night performances are certain "outrageous" cartoons geared
to a definite adult audience."Lupo the Butcher" is profane, disgusting and
pointlessly violent. In other words, it's a lot of fun. But some of the other adult
shorts prove that some of these guys are locked in their little rooms, breathing paint
fumes a little too long. All "Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf' is the classic
children's tale, only this time with graphic sex thrown in at every possible moment.
Everyone can rejoice. Animation aficionados will see nothing new, but what
they will see is some ofthebest. Those who have not yet gotten into animation have
a perfect vehicle to become acquainted with this form of filmmaking.
THE INTERNATIONAL TOURNEE OF ANIMATION is playing at the State
Theater.
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\EttaJames
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CELEBRATE OUR OFFICIAL GRAND OPENING
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Serving the Main U of M Campus - Sit Down or Carry Out
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