WE'RE KISSIN' IN THE RAIN...

If you've ever gotten yourself in a full lip lock with your partner in the middle of a downpour you know uncomfortable doesn't begin to describe the experience. But in the movies it's an eye-catching, romantic visual: the dripping hair, the smeared make-up, and the soaking clothes movingly capture that spur-of-the-moment passion in ways that almost always stir an audience. So directors go for it, constantly twisting and re-tooling this standard scene for new-market audiences. Here's a few of the best and most creative.


BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S

Holly and Paul,searching for her "no-name" cat in a Manhattan alley, finally express how they feel about  each other as "Moon River" soars on the soundtrack. True, Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard weren't the first movie couple to pucker-up in the rain, but this spontaneous kiss in such an unlovely location generated such huge audience reaction it set a trend that hasn't stopped to this day.

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SPIDER-MAN
More alley romance. In the first of the "Spider-Man" series (the second was the best) nothing beats this scene of blossoming arachnid love. As Spidey is hanging upside down in an alley during a steady drizzle Mary Jane slowly peels his mask just far enough for a deep, wet kiss. We hold our breath, to see what's next, if she'll remove the mask.  Suddenly there's a hiss and off he goes, leaving her looking up in the rain with the memory of a kiss she will hold forever.

THE OUIET MAN

This old fashioned romantic scene is so classic it could have come right from silent movies. On a chaperoned date, John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara sneak away to find a private, secluded spot. As the storm rises, the wind whips her flaming-red hair and the rain soaks through his shirt. Then he pulls her into his arms for a wordless, forbidden kiss.  

PRIDE & PREJUDICE (2005)

That ampersand in the title tells us we're in for a 21st century version of this enduring love story -- and it works. Boy does it work, as this smoldering scene shows. Darcy and Elizabeth, in love-hate, are soaking from a summer thunderstorm that gives sound effects to their relationship. "You're the last man in the world I could ever be prevailed upon to marry," Keira Knightley forcefully (but not so honestly) snarls at Matthew Macfadyen in her best Jane Austenise. Every angry word brings them closer, face to face, with palpable yearning. This has become one of my favorite scenes because it's the kiss that's not a kiss, the kiss that doesn't happen. But the way director Joe Wright shows it to us with just the right magnetic force between the two of them, and just the right amount of hesitation at the same time, makes the audience feel that it does.










THE NOTEBOOK

               

Perpetual winner of MTV "best kiss" polls, this slobbery weep-fest openly, and gladly, wears its shameless heart on its sleeve. And this key scene shows it all. Allie, in a state of angry longing, challenges Noah as he's hauling his boat out of the water during a thunderstorm. "Why didn't you write me? I waited for you for  seven years." "It wasn't over," he replies. "It still isn't over," and passionately he lifts her into his arms.
A poll I read ( yes, real people take such polls and studios pay them well) said the approval rating for "The Notebook" is a full three points higher for females than for males. Not a surprise, except that's a huge, gigantic difference, higher than almost any chick-flick, and, even more surprising, it holds across women of all age groups. Women buy the DVD and watch it again and again and again. There's meaning in this, somewhere, somehow about communication between the sexes. So guys, bite the bullet: watch it and pay attention.