The Rainmaker (1997 film)

The Rainmaker
The Rainmaker
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Francis Ford Coppola
Screenplay by	Francis Ford Coppola
Based on	The Rainmaker; by John Grisham
Produced by	Michael Douglas; Fred Fuchs; Steven Reuther;
Starring	Matt Damon; Claire Danes; Jon Voight; Mary Kay Place; Mickey Rourke; Danny DeVito;
Cinematography	John Toll
Edited by	Melissa Kent; Barry Malkin;
Music by	Elmer Bernstein
Production; companies	American Zoetrope; Constellation Films;
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	November 21, 1997;
Running time	135 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$40 million
Box office	$45.9 million

The Rainmaker is a 1997 American legal drama film written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola based on John Grisham's 1995 novel of the same name. It stars Matt Damon, Claire Danes, Jon Voight, Mary Kay Place, Mickey Rourke, Danny DeVito, Danny Glover, Roy Scheider, Virginia Madsen, and Teresa Wright in her final film role.

Plot

Recent Memphis State University Law School grad Rudy Baylor has no high-paying work prospects lined up. He takes a job at a Memphis bar where he meets the bar's owner, J. Lyman "Bruiser" Stone, who is also a ruthless but successful ambulance chaser. He hires Rudy as an associate.

Bruiser's associates only get paid by finding cases and working them up for trial. Rudy says he has cases, including an insurance bad faith matter he boasts could be worth several million in damages. Interested, Bruiser introduces Rudy to office paralegal Deck Shifflet, a former insurance adjuster of questionable ethics. Although Deck has failed the bar exam six times, Bruiser employs him because he is resourceful, finds cases, is adept at gathering information, and has useful knowledge of the insurance industry.

Rudy has passed the Tennessee bar exam, but is not yet properly licensed to stand as an attorney. When Bruiser fails to show up for court, Rudy attempts to argue the case, but Judge Harvey Hale scolds Rudy and tells him to first get his license. Defense attorney Leo F. Drummond offers to stand for Rudy as Rudy is sworn in before the judge. Afterwards, Rudy discovers that the FBI has raided Bruiser's office, and Bruiser has disappeared.

Before fleeing, Bruiser gave Rudy and Deck $5000 each. They pool their money to open a practice. They file suit for middle-aged couple Dot and Buddy Black, whose 22-year-old son, Donny Ray, is terminally ill with leukemia but could have been saved with a bone marrow transplant that their insurance carrier Great Benefit denied.

Rudy, having never argued a case in court before, now faces experienced lawyers led by Drummond, from the prestigious firm, Tinley Britt. In chambers, Hale tells Rudy and Drummond that he is set to dismiss the case, seeing it as a "lottery" case that slows down the judicial process. However, Hale suffers a fatal heart attack before he grants the petition for dismissal. The more sympathetic Judge Tyrone Kipler, a former civil rights attorney, replaces Hale. Kipler, known by Deck as disliking Tinley Britt, immediately denies Great Benefit's petition for dismissal. He agrees to fast-track the case so Donny Ray Black's testimony can be recorded before he dies.

While seeking new clients at the hospital, Rudy meets Kelly Riker, a battered wife whose husband Cliff has beaten her numerous times and requiring hospitalization. Rudy and Kelly become romantically involved. Rudy persuades Kelly to file for divorce. This eventually leads to a bloody confrontation with Cliff, resulting in Rudy nearly beating him to death. To keep Rudy from being implicated, Kelly orders Rudy to leave the house. She then kills Cliff herself, then tells the police it was self-defense. Based on Cliff's long history of domestic abuse, the district attorney declines to prosecute Kelly.

Donny Ray dies days after giving a video deposition. The case goes to trial, where Drummond gets the vital testimony of Rudy's key witness, Jackie Lemanczyk, stricken from the record as it is based on a stolen manual used as evidence. Nevertheless, thanks to Rudy's determination and some clandestine reference help from now Caribbean-based fugitive Bruiser (with whom Deck is connected by intermediaries), Jackie's testimony and the Great Benefit Employee Manual are finally admitted into evidence, to Drummond's dismay.

Rudy skillfully cross-examines Great Benefit's CEO, Wilfred Keeley, leading to the jury finding for Donny Ray's family for both actual damages and enormous punitive damages that Great Benefit cannot pay. It is a great triumph for Rudy and Deck, with Keeley being arrested by the FBI and investigation proceedings into Great Benefit launched in multiple jurisdictions. The insurance company declares bankruptcy, allowing it to avoid paying punitive damages. There is no payout for the grieving parents and no fee for Rudy or Drummond. Dot expresses satisfaction at putting Great Benefit out of business, leaving the company unable to victimize other families.

As this success will create unrealistic expectations for future clients, Rudy decides to abandon his new practice and teach law. He and Kelly leave town together, heading out for an uncertain, but bright future together.

Cast

Matt Damon as Rudy S. Baylor
Danny DeVito as Deck Shifflet
Claire Danes as Kelly Riker
Jon Voight as Leo F. Drummond
Mary Kay Place as Margarine "Dot" Black
Dean Stockwell as Judge Harvey Hale
Teresa Wright as Colleen Janice "Miss Birdie" Birdsong
Virginia Madsen as Jackie Lemanczyk
Mickey Rourke as J. Lyman "Bruiser" Stone
Andrew Shue as Cliff Riker
Red West as Buddy Black
Johnny Whitworth as Donny Ray Black
Roy Scheider as Wilfred Keeley
Randy Travis as Billy Porter
Danny Glover (uncredited) as Judge Tyrone Kipler

Release

Box office

On its opening weekend, the film ranked third behind Anastasia and Mortal Kombat Annihilation, earning $10,626,507.^[3] The film grossed $45,916,769 in the domestic box office,^[2] exceeding its estimated production budget of $40 million, but still was considered a disappointment for a film adaptation of a Grisham novel, particularly in comparison to The Firm, which was made for roughly the same amount but grossed more than six times its budget.

Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews from critics, earning an 81% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 59 reviews, with an average rating of 6.80/10. The website's critical consensus states: "Invigorated by its talented cast and Francis Ford Coppola's strong direction, The Rainmaker is a satisfying legal drama—and arguably the best of Hollywood's many John Grisham adaptations."^[4] On Metacritic, the film has a 72 out of 100 ratings based on 19 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews".^[5]

Roger Ebert gave The Rainmaker three stars out of four, remarking: "I have enjoyed several of the movies based on Grisham novels ... but I've usually seen the storyteller's craft rather than the novelist's art being reflected. ... By keeping all of the little people in focus, Coppola shows the variety of a young lawyer's life, where every client is necessary and most of them need a lot more than a lawyer."^[6] James Berardinelli also gave the film three stars out of four, saying that "the intelligence and subtlety of The Rainmaker took me by surprise" and that the film "stands above any other filmed Grisham adaptation".^[7]

In 2024, Francis Ford Coppola revealed during an interview with Rolling Stone that, following the release of The Rainmaker, he chose to "sort of retire" from being a professional director and instead become a student who could discover what making movies consisted by self-financing "very small, low-budget" films like Youth Without Youth (2007) and Tetro (2009), even organizing unusual rehearsals during which he learned a lot about acting. This was in order for Coppola to prepare himself for the development of his longtime passion project Megalopolis (2024).^[8]