What’s your favorite rainy day movie? by J Vincent

The movie that came instantly to mind was Enchanted April. The DVD cover as well as the summary of Enchanted April (1992) are from Rotten Tomatoes:

Previously filmed in 1935 with Ann Harding, Enchanted April, a romantic novel by Elizabeth, was remade in 1992. The first film skips along superficially at 66 minutes: the second, directed by the always intriguing Mike Newell, runs 101 minutes, allowing for richer characterizations and a bottomless reserve of brilliant dialogue. Two cloistered, married English women (Josie Lawrence, Miranda Richardson) impulsively rent an Italian villa and embark upon a vacation without their spouses. They are joined by two other ladies: the high-flown aging widow Joan Plowright, and elegant upper-crust beauty Polly Walker whom they've never met. Under the spell of an exotic new location, the foursome are in for quite a few life-altering experiences, many of them amusing, and not a few very surprising. Impeccably accurate in its recreation of European manners and mores in the 1920s, Enchanted April is sheer bliss from fade-in to fade-out. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

It's a quiet British movie but shows how two browbeaten women come to realize empowement is within their own hands as well as substantial emotional growth of another pair. It came out in 1992 and starred Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright (always a delight), Alfred Molina (long before he was Dr. Otto Octavius in Spiderman), Josie Lawrence, and Michael Kitchen (one of my favorites--you may recall the Foyle's War series).  It had three Golden Globe nominations-won one--and three Academy Award nominations.

The character development/growth for almost all of the characters is substantial.  The conversation is witty, moments are poignant, and some are comedic. It's optimistic but doesn't manipulate or otherwise try to trick the audience. It pleases on an intellectual level as well as an emotional one.  Four “happily ever afters” is much more affirming than just one, especially as they come about naturally.  Just thinking about it makes me want to have a girls’ movie night to watch it even if it isn’t raining.