While Raining Stones was released thirty years ago, it's yet another film with a plot that could very easily be transposed into the here and now. I wish I said that about more optimistic and happy pictures, but this is a Ken Loach film, which should let you know how far away from optimistic and happy it is. Having said that, however, there IS a silver lining or two glimpsed amidst the many grey clouds that gather above the main character.
Bruce Jones plays Bob, a poor man who just wants a chance to earn enough money to support his family. He has a loving wife, Anne (Julie Brown), and a young daughter, Coleen (Gemma Phoenix), who is in need of a nice, but certainly not cheap, dress for her upcoming First Communion. He also has a friend, Tommy (Ricky Tomlinson), who is also mired in a poverty trap that he's desperate to escape.
Having been familiar with Bruce Jones from his stint on Coronation Street, I forgot that he also starred in a number of movies. I also forgot how good he could be, delivering a brilliant performance here that makes you forget that this is his feature debut (Loach has a knack for getting those performances from his cast). Brown and Phoenix may not be the focus of the film, shown front and centre when endangered by the lengths that Bob goes to in order to get some cash ASAP, but both deliver excellent supporting turns. Tomlinson may provide some comic relief, but he's also asked to deliver the kind of emotional punch that he has been able to deliver throughout his career, whether in dramatic or comedic roles.
Writer Jim Allen had worked with Ken Loach numerous times over the years, collaborating with him on "The Wednesday Play" TV series and a "Play For Today", and this was the second of the three feature films that they created between them (sandwiched between Hidden Agenda in 1990 and Land And Freedom in 1995, Allen's final screenplay). It also feels like the most typical "Loach-ian" of the three, considering what movies come to mind when the director's name is spoken, and this would make a perfect start to a triple-bill that would also include I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We Missed You.
The people who had their lives made so much worse by the poor economic situation of the late '80s to mid-'90s are the exact same people who are currently having their lives made so much worse by the poor economic situation right now, and that poverty is created and maintained by a social support system not fit for purpose, communities left to rot while the forgotten/hidden residents bravely struggle to keep their heads above water, and rich people getting richer by exploiting the situation to their advantage. There's not a great different between the bankers making bonuses while claiming homes from people who have fallen on hard times and a loan shark demanding ever-increasing repayment amounts as they inventory a home for any goods worth taking in lieu of cash. The tactics may differ, but the end goal is the same.
A difficult watch (again . . . the fact that it's a Ken Loach film should have already made you aware of that), especially during a horrible and hugely uncomfortable main scene in the third act, but just as moving and relevant as so many other features that make up Loach's extensive filmography.
9/10
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