Raining Stones [DVD]

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This Ken Loach film tells the story of a man devoted to his family and his religion. Proud, though poor, Bob wants his little girl to have a beautiful (and costly) brand-new dress for her First Communion. His stubbornness and determination get him into serious trouble as he turns to more and more questionable measures to raise the needed money. His desperation leads him to risk all that he loves and values, including his immortal soul and salvation. .com ---- Raining Stones examines a couple mired in poverty with surprisingly dry humor and ironic wit. The film opens on two buddies, Bob (Bruce Jones) and Tommy (Ricky Tomlinson), kipping a sheep to kill in small town England to sell to the town butcher. When the butcher rejects the sheep, they try to pawn mutton legs off on drinkers in a nearby pub, with little success. From here, the viewer discovers that Bob Williams is set on buying his daughter a new first communion dress, rather than accepting one second-hand. Bob goes door-to-door asking neighbors for plumbing jobs, then resorts to criminal acts that endanger his understanding wife, Ann (Julie Brown), and daughter. When gangsters bust into Bob's apartment and steal Ann's wedding ring as collateral for Bob's debt, comic comes as they th the cookies she was previously baking. Right before Bob calls , he visits the local priest, her Barry (Tom Hickey), who hilariously burns Bob's evidence and convinces Bob to keep his crimes a secret. British director Ken Loach turns the most dejected scenes into the funniest. The dress metaphorically embodies Bob's stubborn pride, and his piety, though on a larger scale it represents those unattainable items that working class people in England lose over. In this, Raining Stones is biting commentary meant to awaken those in financially empowered positions to unmet social responsibilities. --Trinie Dalton