Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

Don't Believe the Hype

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The first questions I ask in reviewing a film are "was it a story worth telling", and "was it a story well told." Given the artists involved in making the Rainmaker, it should come as no surprise that this film gets a solid yes on both counts. John Grisham (author of A Time to Kill, The Firm, the Client, etc.) is one of the hottest novelists writing today, and Francis Ford Coppola (Godfathers I & II, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders) is one of the great directors of the last twenty years. I knew Grisham had crafted a story worth telling when I read his novel. Fortunately, Coppola handles the material well and turns out one of the best adaptations of a Grisham novel yet.As is the case in many of Grisham's novels, the hero is a young struggling lawyer just out of law school. But in the Rainmaker, young Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon) is stuck with a law firm that specializes in ambulance-chasing and haunting the halls of hospitals in search of potential clients. When the head of the firm runs afoul of the law, Rudy joins forces with self-described "para-lawyer" Deck Shifflet (Danny DeVito), and the pair strike out on their own.Their only real client is Dot Black (Mary Kay Place) whose son, Donny Ray, is dying from leukemia. Donny Ray needs a blood transfusion, but the insurance company has refused to cover it. This sets the stage for a real David v. Goliath showdown, with Danny DeVito almost stealing the show as the "sling-carrier" for our 20th century David. John Voight plays Leo F. Drummond, the insurance company's attorney, and does an excellent job of making it easy for us to dislike him and the company he represents. Claire Danes plays a battered wife-and eventual love interest for young Rudy-in a subplot that seems a bit hurried and underdeveloped at points.One of the things that makes this movie so enjoyable is its smallness. In an era of star vehicles and special effects thrillers, it's a welcome change to watch a film that is simply a good story well-told. There is no over-the-top super performance, and there are no dazzling special effects, but the film is chock-full of solid performances by excellent actors (including Danny Glover, Teresa Wright, Randy Travis, and Roy Scheider). Coppola is known as the director who turns unknowns into stars. He seems to have continued the trend with rising star Matt Damon in the lead role. The Rainmaker is an engaging story with a timely theme, and in Coppola's hands becomes a story well-told.

A newly-qualified wet-behind-the-ears lawyer Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon) and his partner Deck Shifflet (Danny DeVito)are tasked with taking on insurance giant Great Benefit after they fail to pay out on a claim which could potentially save the life of their mutual client Donny Ray Black (Johnny Whitworth).The Rainmaker shares a bit in common with Pelican Brief (another Grisham novel). In both cases, an underdog fights against the big boys in their pursuit of justice - although to be honest I preferred this John Grisham adaptation to the Pelican Brief.It begins slowly, perhaps a little too slowly, but once it gets going it is a very good film. I think part of the problem with this film is that it sometimes lacks focus; the interesting part of the film is the main plot involving Baylor and Shifflet trying to take down Great Benefit, but the film has a sub-plot involving Baylor trying to protect Kelly Riker (Claire Danes) whom is a victim of domestic abuse. Whilst the sub-plot is quite touching and does help to endear us towards Rudy it ultimately feels unnecessary and seems like it's been tagged on just to create a love interest for Rudy. The very fact that it is completely unrelated to the rest of the story only reinforces this point, and at times it means that the film lacks focus and feels longer than necessary. The oddities in this film continue when we're introduced to Bruiser (Micky Rourke whom it took me a while to recognise to be honest). He's introduced early on and seems important to the story, but then disappears from the film with very little explanation??? Hmm... just seemed a bit strange to me.That being said, once we get to the meat of the film (the courtroom drama aspect) then it does become very enjoyable and this is the side of the film that makes it worth seeing. The performances from the main cast are all excellent; Damon is very convincing as a wet-behind-the ears laywer (he's actually almost too convincing). DeVito is OK, but Voight and Glover are both excellent - Glover in particular looks like he is having a lot of fun here.The Rainmaker is a bit of a plodder in its early stages and there are certainly aspects of it that don't really work, but the courtroom scenes in the second half of the film more than compensate for the shortcomings of the first half and the strong second half makes it worth the effort.

The Rainmaker (1997): Dir: Frances Ford Coppola / Cast: Matt Damon, Danny De Vito, Jon Voight, Claire Danes, Mickey Rourke: Flat and tiresome, which is unfortunate since it starts out just fine. Title doesn't make much sense but it stars Matt Damon as a young attorney who holds a corrupt insurance conglomerate responsible for the untreated leukemia of a dying boy. He receives legal assistance from Danny De Vito while Jon Voight plays the opposing lawyer. Interesting theme regarding dishonesty and truth among lawyers however, it is too predictable and structured like a courtroom drama. Director Frances Ford Coppola does his best but this hardly matches his work in The Godfather, The Conversation and Apocalypse Now. Damon is superb as this new attorney setting out to make a difference. De Vito steals scenes as he stoops to whatever level to achieve victory. Voight is standard issue as the opposing lawyer. Claire Danes is unnecessary as an abused housewife whose presence is basically to involve Damon in a romantic fling. It slows down an already boring film. Mickey Rourke also makes an appearance as a corrupt lawyer, as if that is beneath anybody here. Coppola is a terrific director doing work here that is far beneath him, with stars that are above it. It regards honest law but the screenplay evaporates like an ice cube in the mid day sun. Score: 4 / 10

What could be more topical at the moment than this excellent film of 1997 about corruption in the health insurance industry? The film is based upon a best-selling novel by John Grisham, and strangely, nowhere in the film is there any explanation of the meaning of the title, which I presume must have been clear in the original book. The screenplay is by the director, Francis Ford Coppola. I believe it is one of his finest films. Coppola has always been a good screenwriter, and he has crafted a fine screenplay and directed it magnificently. John Toll's cinematography is as usual excellent. The film is notable in retrospect for the appearance of the 18 year-old Claire Danes, long before HOMELAND had ever been dreamt of. She was pretty and talented then, as well as now. The film was also the occasion for the last film appearance by Teresa Wright, bringing to a close 56 years of inspired screen acting. The lead role of the young lawyer who decides he is going to fight corruption is played by Mark Damon, who really is a very fine actor when he is not too busy leaping from rooftops and helicopters in those endless Bourne action movies. The film is a powerful and gripping 'David and Goliath' story, with Matt Damon fighting the forces of corporate evil against all the odds. Jon Voigt is magnificent, giving one of his finest film performances, as the oily lead lawyer of a corrupt insurance company. Danny DeVito is marvellous as a legal assistant who bends all the rules to 'get' the bad guys. This film is, as I have said, more relevant now than when it was made. In the light of the Obamacare train crash, and the loss of insurance cover for millions of people through the sheer idiocy and perversity of the Obamacarrions, this film speaks of yet another angle on the desperate problems of people being deprived of their insurance and left helpless as they lie dying of fatal diseases, with their deaths hastened by the lack of treatments which could save them.