Like Sunday, Like Rain

Plot

In Brooklyn, 23-year-old Eleanor (Leighton Meester) breaks up with her failing and disloyal musician boyfriend, Dennis (Billie Joe Armstrong). She has to move out of Dennis' apartment and crash at a friend's place. Unfortunately, Dennis refuses to let her go and confronts her at her work where Dennis' tirade costs Eleanor her job. Eleanor tries to seek family support, but her family is not willing to help, so she crashes at her friend's place one last time before seeking a temporary job. In the Upper West Side Reggie, a cellist and all-round genius who's bored and skeptical, lives a solitary life as his parents do not have time for him and relegate caretakers to watch after him. His most recent caretaker had to go back to Panama so Reggie's mother, Barbara, posts an ad for a temporary sitter; Eleanor answers the call.

Despite being a genius, Reggie is treated like a child. He does his best to get around his mother's arrangements by bribing the people in his life to spread the idea that he's obedient. Upon meeting him, Eleanor is touched to hear Reggie's composition Like Sunday, Like Rain and the two strike an unlikely friendship. As summer camp approaches, Eleanor tries to get Reggie to go, but he blows it off to hang in the city for the next six weeks. In this time Dennis stalks Eleanor, wanting to talk and get back together, however, Eleanor makes it clear that they are broken up. Dennis promises to get back at her for breaking his guitar, but he never returns.

Later, while hanging at the park, Reggie becomes fascinated with Eleanor. Eleanor's father is terminally ill and she has to go upstate to see him. Eleanor originally plans go away for a few days, but Reggie suggests he go with her and they travel to her hometown. Reggie gets to see Eleanor's life and her dysfunctional family. Eleanor's sister works at a seedy bar, while her mother and uncle are care-free about Eleanor's father. Looking after Reggie's interest and unable to stand the situation at home, Eleanor takes him to a hotel to have some peace and quiet. There Eleanor tells Reggie how she met Dennis, the messy relations with her family, and that she nearly went to Juilliard to study the cornet. Reggie is intrigued that Eleanor can play. She explains she wanted to play the trumpet, but couldn't and chose the cornet instead; she never made it to Juilliard due to lack of funds. Before they go to sleep, Reggie promises to write a cornet piece to include Eleanor in his single.

The following day, Eleanor visits her father and Reggie can only watch from a distance, seeing Eleanor become very emotional. Dropping off the car she borrowed from her uncle, she is enraged at how he could be so nonchalant about the illness of his brother. Her uncle and mother become defensive and Eleanor storms out, declaring she will never return and escorts Reggie back home.

As the summer is nearly over, Reggie has formed a close bond with Eleanor, but her job is only temporary and another sitter has arrived to take over. He has trouble accepting Eleanor's departure and wants her to stay. Eleanor feels the need to regroup at home to get her life back in order and they promise to stay in touch with each other before emotionally embracing. Eleanor kisses Reggie lightly and bids him farewell. Reggie resumes his lonely, privileged life, with Eleanor on his mind. On the doorstep of Eleanor's family home, Reggie arranges a gift for her: a cornet with the revised notes to Like Sunday, Like Rain. Reggie resumes playing the cello and, at a distance, Eleanor plays her part.

Cast

Development

Like Sunday, Like Rain is Frank Whaley's 4th feature film. The inspiration for the film was to tell a good story. Whaley says the biggest challenge with this film was to stay true to the story through the entire process and not change it based on investors' perspectives.

Filming

Like Sunday, Like Rain was shot in New York City, New York. It was shot in 20 days and included filming in all five New York boroughs in summer 2013.

Release

The film had a U.S. theatrical release in March 2015 followed by the DVD and VOD release.

Festivals

Like Sunday, Like Rain was selected to screen at the following film festivals:

Reception

Like Sunday, Like Rain received mixed reviews. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds a 50% score with an average rating of 5.7/10, sampled from 16 reviews. On another site, Metacritic, it has a 43 out of 100 rating, which indicated "Mixed or average reviews", based on reviews from six critics.

Soundtrack

English singer-songwriter, Ed Harcourt was the composer of the film's orchestral score.