NICK NOLTE IN 'WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN' WITH MICHAEL MORIARTY

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN Year: 1978 Rating: ***

In the same year that the groundbreaking BOYS IN COMPANY C showed soldiers fighting in Vietnam, WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN (influenced by the previous years' ROLLING THUNDER) centered on the desperately flawed American soldiers right afterwards...

Beginning with a character quirky enough for his own movie, whose intro/setup has its own beginning, middle and end with the always-intriguingly-strange Michael Moriarty, returning to the war (with cameos by young non-famous Wings Hauser and Jonathan Banks) to find a buddy to do what the rest of the picture's about...

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

And by the time tough marine Nick Notle's doing slow-motion meditation-style karate exercises on the ship headed back to America, we're introduced to a new kind of cinematic hero: too flawed for mainstream but not quite shady enough for the anti-hero role...

Eventually teaming with gloomy, opium-addicted Tuesday Weld, librarian wife of Michael Moriarty who... for reasons never fully explained... gave Nolte the mission to quickly sell uncut heroin, which of course goes wrong, introducing antagonists who are actually part of the FBI: one an extremely crooked agent in the always formidable Anthony Zerbe, with two otherwise good actors miscast here: Richard Masur doesn't seem tough enough (despite his size) and Ray Sharkey's doing a cliche imitation of a dimwitted Italian... 

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN with Tuesday Weld

What everything leads to (following overlong troubles with drug dealer Charles Haid) is a final-act standoff where, like MR. MAJESTYK before and FIRST BLOOD after, the main character flees to his own exterior safe-space, literally the higher ground that he knows and controls every inch of...

At this point a lot of action's needed... but the problem here is the problem throughout: too much dialogue and wispy melodrama involving Weld and Nolte, never seeming that all that interested as a love-interest pair while Moriarty (held politely hostage) basically like he's passively watching the movie along with the audience... being the one who ignited the troubles while Nolte... though good as always... always seems like he's somewhat reluctant to carry things through.

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte and Tuesday Weld in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Michael Moriarty in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN with Jonathan Banks and Wings Hauser

Michael Moriarty in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Ray Sharkey in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte and Richard Masur in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Michael Moriarty in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Tuesday Weld in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Ray Sharkey in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Tuesday Weld in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Michael Moriarty and Anthony Zerbe in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Michael Moriarty and Anthony Zerbe in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN with Charles Haid

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte and Tuesday Weld in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Ray Sharkey in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Charles Haid with James Cranna and Timothy Blake in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte and Tuesday Weld in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte and Tuesday Weld in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN

Nick Nolte in WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN