Rain

Working from a novel by Kirsty Gunn, writer-director Christine Jeffs demonstrates that New Zealand can produce movies every bit as trying as the most pretentious American independents. Rain, a coming-of-age tale that might be titled Summer of '72, works hard at appearing enigmatic and evocative, but only manages to be slow and irritating. When 13-year-old Janey (Alicia Fulford-Wierzbicki)--vacationing in a seaside cottage with her party-obsessed, heavy-drinking parents (Alistair Browning and Sarah Peirse) and younger brother (Aaron Murphy)--is angered by her mother's infidelity with a handsome photographer (Marton Csokas, a Russell Crowe look-alike), she tries to seduce the man herself, with tragic results. John Toon's cinematography, employing a suitably dour palette of blues and greens, is striking but, when combined with the depressing narrative, leaves one feeling as hung-over as the adult characters, who are repeatedly depicted waking up in an alcoholic stupor. Rain has been hailed as a touching portrait of a young girl's rite of passage, but it's really more of an artistic washout. Not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)