Coppola Cops Out
The Rainmaker Gets Watered Down

One must give Hollywood credit for the unabashed way they have jumped on the John Grisham bandwagon. Sensing a trend in book sales, it appears that every book Grisham writes is optioned for a motion picture before it's even printed. If more people were urged to read the book after seeing the movie that would be one thing, but too often I now hear people say they don't read the new Grisham novels because they can just wait for the movie. The problem is this: books don't translate well to film.

Once again, Hollywood is helping to prove me right. Even Francis Ford Coppola (who made history with his adaptation of Mario Puzo's The Godfather) can not manage to express the heartfelt emotion which Grisham wove into this fascinating story. In the end, The Rainmaker is little more than another courtroom drama, and plays like an episode of Matlock.

The Rainmaker follows a young law graduate named Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon) who is looking for a job in the shark-eat-shark world of Memphis law. Unable to find a position with a reputable firm in the over saturated Memphis market, Rudy hooks up with an attorney named J. Lyman "Bruiser" Stone. Stone (played well by Mickey Rourke) starts Rudy's career by hooking him up with Deke Shifflet (Danny DeVito) a "para lawyer" who has failed the Tennessee bar six times. Deke knows the business, though, and will stoop to blatant ambulance chasing to sign new clients.

Rudy brings to the law firm a small case, a law suit against an insurance firm for failure to pay a claim. The lawsuit, Bruiser recognizes, has merit. He urges Rudy to sign the clients and plans on fighting the case himself since Rudy has not yet taken his bar exam. When Bruiser comes under investigation by the FBI, Rudy takes control of the case and prepares to fight a large law firm in a battle of David and Goliath proportions. His opponent, Leo Drummond (Jon Voight), oozes with the stench of a man who sold out his principles long ago.

While the acting in The Rainmaker is top notch, the story leaves something to be desired. The lawsuit deals with the loss of a son to leukemia and is very moving in the novel. Somehow, Coppola's adaptation loses sight of that fact, becoming more concerned with the tricks of prosecuting the case rather than the human element. The secondary story involving Rudy and Kelly Riker, an abused wife (Claire Danes), lacks any emotional strength. While Coppola did a good job of bringing in the elements of her story, he doesn't take the time to make us care about their growing relationship. For much of the story Kelly is put on the back burner while Rudy goes off to trial, and we wonder what happened to her.

There are several guest cameos in this movie, including Dean Stockwell, Roy Scheider, Virginia Madsen, and country music star Randy Travis. Each of these small roles livens up an otherwise unemotional drama. The performances by DeVito, Rourke, and Voight are splendid. Damon, while believable as a fresh law graduate, seems too young for this role. Perhaps it is intended that his youthful appearance will allow us to sympathize easily with him.

All in all, I must recommend this movie. Although it is not as good as the book (you really should read it, you know), the characters are entertaining and the movie moves at a good pace. Don't let the two hour length put you off, it's time well spent.

MY RATING: 6 out of 10.

RATED: PG-13
RUN TIME: 128 min.