6.17.2009

I Come With The Rain



Thrillers make up a large percentage of my personal film collection. Something has always fascinated me about the tense grip a film can have on you for the length of its running time. The best of the genre always manages to completely immerse me in its characters and their dilemmas. I Come With The Rain has a fascinating and dark premise.
Ex-Los Angeles cop turned private eye Kline travels to Hong Kong in search of Shitao, the missing son of a Chinese billionaire. Enlisting Meng Zi a friend and former colleague now working for the Hong Kong police, Kline follows a faint trail left by the ethereal Shitao. The path leads to local gangster Su Dongpo and his beautiful, drug-addicted girlfriend Lili. But Kline is distracted from his search, haunted by memories of the serial killer Hasford whose 'body of work' was the reason Kline quit the police force.
Add the fact that this is written and directed by Anh Hung Tran, known more for his sensitive, human dramas such as Vertical Ray of the Sun and The Scent of the Green Papaya and you have something that should have your attention immediately. Tran's sensibilities will surely put a different "spin" on the thriller as it is obvious that there is a theme of "healing" central to the search for Shitao who reportedly has a miraculous ability to cure people of their ills.

The casting of the three main leads is also worthy of note. Starring Lee Byung Hun (Bittersweet Life) as Su Dongpo, Takuya Kimura (2046) as Shitao, and Josh Harnett as Kline, the producers obviously are going for a broad international appeal with a strong focus on its pan-Asian release. All three actors are more than capable of the material and under a director such as Tran, this certainly could be a solid entry in the genre. The film has already been released in Japan, though I sadly predict a limited arthouse run in the States; Josh Hartnett alone is not enough of a sell with three Asian talents (no matter how popular they are in Asia) filling out the credits. Below is the Japanese trailer.

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