Film Forum

U.K., 1993
Directed by Ken Loach
Written by Jim Allen
With Bruce Jones, Julie Brown, Ricky Tomlinson, Tom Hickey, Gemma Phoenix
Approx. 90 mins. DCP.

“Centers on Bob (Bruce Jones), an out-of-work plumber who desperately needs money to pay for the expensive dress he feels his daughter deserves to wear for her first communion. His attempts to earn much-needed cash include the bizarre (rustling a sheep and selling pieces of mutton at the local pub) to the comic (going door to door offering to fix faulty drains, and winding up cleaning out the foul-smelling waste pipes from the toilet of the local Catholic Church for no payment) to the dangerous (borrowing money from a loan shark with a violent reputation). Bruce Jones is perfectly cast as the rumpled hero whose luck seems to have run out, and Ricky Tomlinson is a scream as his loyal, sardonic friend whose wisecracks provide much of the film’s humor. Loach doesn’t disguise his anger at the sorry state of Britain today, with its high unemployment, poverty and despair. The title is derived from a comment made by Bob’s socialist father-in-law: 'When you’re a worker, it rains stones seven days a week.'”
– David Stratton, Variety

Reviews

“Brisk, richly characterized fiction that cuts as deeply and truly as any documentary.”
– Vincent Canby, The New York Times