Day Thirty-Seven: The Rainmaker

THE RAINMAKER

Starring:
-Matt Damon
-Claire Danes
-Danny DeVito
-Jon Voight

Written & Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

MPAA Rating: PG-13 – for the crazy intense beating scene


Based on the John Grisham book of the same name, THE RAINMAKER (not to be confused with the 1956 Burt Lancaster, Katharine Hepburn film) is about young goody-two-shoes lawyer Rudy Baylor getting his start in the legal world. He winds up working for a cheap shyster named Bruiser Stone and becomes acquainted with Deck Shifflet, the occasionally unscrupulous, always smarmy paralegal who has failed the bar exam six times (played to perfection by the adorable Danny DeVito).

Stone’s a dirty lawyer and the FBI close him down, so Rudy and Deck go into business for themselves. Rudy passes the bar and stumbles into an insurance lawsuit where he must go up against slimy Leo Drummond (Jon Voight).

Rudy meets a pretty girl whose redneck husband beats her with a baseball bat (Danes) and since they’ve fallen in love, Rudy helps her kill the guy one night. They didn’t plan it, it was total self-defense, but Claire has him run off so she can take all the blame.

Long story made short, Rudy wins the trial, but the insurance company claims bankruptcy. They’re out of business, but they get out of paying the millions of dollars the jury awarded to the plaintiff. Lucky break, insurance creeps. So now Rudy’s this sought after lawyer, but he’s all bummed because he’s afraid he’s never going to be able to work his magic again. He and Claire Danes pretty much elope together, leaving poor Danny DeVito to his own devices, which I think is sad. They could have at least offered to take him along. He would be a hilarious sidekick, and his presence would heighten the likelihood of comedic hi-jinks in future sequels. Oh, well.


I like a good courtroom drama as well as the next girl, but to me, THE RAINMAKER falls flat. The resolution, while not totally unhappy, feels somewhat unsatisfying. I knew it wouldn’t be an Erin Brockovich type story where the multi-million dollar company was forced to shell out big bucks to a legion of those it harmed, but I at least expected the poor woman who lost her son to get something out of the deal. Plus she swore on the stand that any and all money she received as a result of winning the lawsuit would go straight to cancer research. This film is pre-Bourne and post-Good Will Hunting, so Matt Damon is all stick thin and young looking, so it definitely has that going for it. But it was just a little too hokey for me.

If you’re looking for a really spectacular courtroom drama, steer towards something more like Paul Newman’s THE VERDICT. There are more twists and surprises, and less gobbledygook. Once again, another weird word instantly recognized by my computer’s spell check feature. Life is so funny.

FINAL GRADE: C-

Off in search of a baseball bat,

M.