# Rainmaker, The (1997)

### reviewed by
E. Benjamin Kelsey

    JOHN GRISHAM'S THE RAINMAKER
    (PG-13)

    Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
    Running Time: 135 minutes
    Originally Released: November 21, 1997

    Reviewed by E. Benjamin Kelsey

    * * ˝ (out of four)

Jane Austen, Michael Crichton, and John Grisham. These are the authors whose books consumed the world of 1990's cinema. Since 1993, Grisham has had six novels turned into major motion pictures, and they've been relatively well accepted by the movie-going public. Unfortunately, that's a trend that's been on the downhill. THE CHAMBER was virtually unnoticed as it passed thru a brief existance in movie theaters, and now comes JOHN GRISHAM'S THE RAINMAKER, which is on about the same level both in terms of quality, and in the attention it's receiving. Both are nothing to brag about.

Matt Damon stars as Rudy Baylor, a young, handsome lawyer on the verge of a bar exam (in a John Grisham story? No way!). Starting out in Memphis under the shady Bruiser Stone (Mickey Rourke), Rudy finds his natural good character heavily conflictive with the proud ambulance chasers he works with. Danny DeVito plays Deck Shiffler, Rudy's "tutor" whose six failed attempts at the bar exam leaves him just this side of being a real lawyer. Nevertheless, Deck shows Rudy the easy way to quick bucks, barging into hospital rooms and refusing to take no for an answer, and Rudy, despite his integral ambitions, falls into it very quickly.

The main conflict deals with Dot Black (Mary Kay Place), a middle aged woman who loses her son to Leukemia. If the right steps had been taken, her son might still be alive, but due to a less-than-honest insurance company, Dot watched her son wither away. Rudy, a greeny, must take the powerful insurance company, and its high-paid group of "old pro" lawyers (led by Jon Voight), to court. On the sideline, we have an abused wife (Claire Danes) that Rudy seems to be falling for, and Miss Birdie (Teresa Wright), an old woman who rents the young lawyer a room, who intends to leave all her possessions to a TV- evangelist when she dies.

Most of the acting in this film feels too staged. Place is melodramatic whereas Wright comes off like a stage actress (there is a difference between acting in plays and movies, and the two don't mix!). DeVito gives it his all, but being the talent he is, the role is almost too belittling of him (and I'm not making a "short" joke at his expense). Voight plays an arrogant lawyer quite well, but when the best acting comes from a meant-to-be despised character, it's hard to get all excited. Danes has proven herself an exceptional young star, and this role also doesn't do her justice. She's one of the best things the film has, but once again, her character is too frivolously used to make it an impressive stamp on her résumé. The surprise winner here is the cameo-esque appearance by Danny Glover as Judge Tyrone Kipler. Glover needed some brownie points after the horrendous GONE FISHIN', and while THE RAINMAKER isn't a full redemption, it helps us forgive him just enough.

Along with GOOD WILL HUNTING, THE RAINMAKER is Matt Damon's ticket to notoriety, but let me assure you, GOOD WILL HUNTING is definitely the flatterer. In fact, I saw that one before I saw THE RAINMAKER, and seeing THE RAINMAKER was a sad disappointment after such an impressive performance. Damon grows into the character of Rudy Baylor, but for the first while, he struggles to pull it off (as well as his less-than-perfect southern accent). He's one to watch, but he should also pick his roles more carefully. Playing a young, cocky, streetwise kid from the poor side of Boston is much more up his alley than a young, timid, southern lawyer.

Francis Ford Coppola, once a very impressive name as a director, is taking too many wrong turns with films like this and the below-average JACK (he also wrote the script for THE RAINMAKER). He's not bad, but he's not great, and when people are paying more and more money to get into theaters, great is more what to aim for. THE RAINMAKER almost seems hastily made, and the end result is a film that won't be remembered in much detail two days after you've seen it. Unlike every other Grisham-novel movie, THE RAINMAKER lacks any suspense (THE FIRM, THE PELICAN BRIEF, THE CLIENT) or any emotional stirring (A TIME TO KILL, THE CHAMBER). The only thing that gives this film two and a half stars is the courtroom finale. Although we've seen it over and over before, it's still fun to watch the underdog work his way thru an impossible trial. Like I said, it's not emotional or suspenseful, but it is interesting. Not captivating, not intriguing, just interesting. And when you've paid six bucks to get in and sat there for two hours waiting to see what happens, you'll be more than thankful.

    January 6, 1998

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