The Rainmaker

MPAA Rating

PG-13

Theatrical Release Date

Nov 20, 1997

Genre(s)

• Underdogs
• Fighting the System
• Courtroom Drama
• 4-for-3 Drama
• 4-for-3 All DVDs

Rating (Stars)

Description

When viewed from a cranky perspective, this by-the-book David vs. Goliath story doesn't offer any surprises, and it's a bit sad to watch director Francis Coppola (who also adapted John Grisham's bestseller) squandering his once-glorious talent on such conventional Hollywood fare. In a more charitable light, however, there's great pleasure to be found in Coppola's intelligent, no-nonsense handling of a plot that's every bit as involving as it is formulaic. Coppola also knows how to bring out the best in a stellar cast, and this is the movie (released in November 1997, just a few weeks before Good Will Hunting) that signaled Matt Damon's arrival as a major-league star. Damon plays Rudy Baylor, a young rookie lawyer in Memphis (location of many Grisham stories) who takes on a powerful insurance company (led by a sharklike lawyer played by Jon Voight) by representing the family of a boy who was denied potentially life-saving treatment for leukemia. Rudy also comes to the rescue of an abused wife (Claire Danes) and learns the tricks of the legal trade from a seasoned paralegal (Danny DeVito), who sees Rudy as his ticket out of the sleazeball practice run by a shady lawyer (Mickey Rourke). There's no mystery about where this plot is going, but Coppola takes us there in high style with a sharp script, and Damon strikes just the right note of naivete and strategic intelligence. When Goliath inevitably falls, this courtroom David wins fair and square. --Jeff Shannon

Director

Francis Ford Coppola

Stars

• Matt Damon
• Danny DeVito
• Claire Danes
• Jon Voight
• Mary Kay Place

Running Time

135 minutes

Original Price

$9.98

Current Value

$4.97

DVD Features

• AC-3
• Closed-captioned
• Color
• Dolby
• DVD-Video
• Letterboxed
• Widescreen
• NTSC
• 2.35:1