[It] cannot be quite coincidental that The Rain People … concerns a journey across America…. This film, like Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider, certainly depends for part of its meaning on American myths of freedom on the open road, our traditional belief in the journey away from civilization as a source of refreshment and renewal. The very first traveling shot of the countryside has an exhilarating sweep and romanticism; the land itself tempts us to believe that Natalie will find on her journey the insight into herself that will redeem her future. But The Rain People sees the general and the mythical through the individual. Although it contains a genuine responsiveness to some of the beauties and horrors of today's Midwest, it never claims to present a major statement about contemporary America.

Interestingly enough, one of the movie's failures is that it is not specific enough about contemporary society...