Matt Damon is "The Rainmaker" in this 1997 film based on the John Grisham novel and starring Danny DeVito, Jon Voight, Mickey Rourke, Mary Kay Place, Teresa Wright, Clare Danes and Virginia Madsen. Well directed by none other than Francis Ford Coppola, "The Rainmaker" tells the story of a rookie attorney who goes up against a corrupt insurance company that sold policies to poor people that they never intended to honor. Damon, who plays Rudy Baylor, represents a family whose son is dying of leukemia because the insurance company refused to pay for a bone marrow transplant.
This is a great story that has the usual Grisham touches: the corrupt big law firm, the honest attorney, big stakes, David versus Goliath. The only problem with this film is that the company and the attorneys on the other side are almost cartoonishly evil, corrupt, and uncaring. Not that they don't exist, but perhaps if they were less obvious, the story might have been more believable. There's a subplot of Rudy's involvement with an abused wife (Danes), which gives a break from the main plot.
The acting is excellent all around in this powerful story. Damon is totally natural as a quiet yet passionate young man in way over his head; DeVito plays his partner who has failed the bar five times - he's a riot; the over-plasticized Mickey Rourke brings glamor and likability to the part of "The Bruiser," the attorney under FBI investigation that Rudy originally goes to work for because he can't find another job. Dean Stockwell plays a sick judge in tight with the insurance company's lead attorney (Voight) - between his coughing and pill-popping, Stockwell gives a highly entertaining performance. Mary Kay Place is a standout as the boy's mother, poor, dignified and devastated, and Red West is heart-wrenching as her gin-drinking husband whose grief has rendered him nearly speechless. Johnny Whitworth does a beautiful job as the son. There is top-notch work as well from Teresa Wright as Rudy's landlady and Virginia Madsen as an ex-employee and witness. Voight's good old boy slimeball attorney is great, but as mentioned earlier, the role is written to give him not one redeeming quality.
"The Rainmaker" is well worth watching. It really grabs the viewer's interest, has another nicely developed performance by Matt Damon in the lead and a powerhouse supporting cast.
This is a great story that has the usual Grisham touches: the corrupt big law firm, the honest attorney, big stakes, David versus Goliath. The only problem with this film is that the company and the attorneys on the other side are almost cartoonishly evil, corrupt, and uncaring. Not that they don't exist, but perhaps if they were less obvious, the story might have been more believable. There's a subplot of Rudy's involvement with an abused wife (Danes), which gives a break from the main plot.
The acting is excellent all around in this powerful story. Damon is totally natural as a quiet yet passionate young man in way over his head; DeVito plays his partner who has failed the bar five times - he's a riot; the over-plasticized Mickey Rourke brings glamor and likability to the part of "The Bruiser," the attorney under FBI investigation that Rudy originally goes to work for because he can't find another job. Dean Stockwell plays a sick judge in tight with the insurance company's lead attorney (Voight) - between his coughing and pill-popping, Stockwell gives a highly entertaining performance. Mary Kay Place is a standout as the boy's mother, poor, dignified and devastated, and Red West is heart-wrenching as her gin-drinking husband whose grief has rendered him nearly speechless. Johnny Whitworth does a beautiful job as the son. There is top-notch work as well from Teresa Wright as Rudy's landlady and Virginia Madsen as an ex-employee and witness. Voight's good old boy slimeball attorney is great, but as mentioned earlier, the role is written to give him not one redeeming quality.
"The Rainmaker" is well worth watching. It really grabs the viewer's interest, has another nicely developed performance by Matt Damon in the lead and a powerhouse supporting cast.