Rating: 
Summary: It's Good, But Way Too Similar To The Verdict"
Review: I greatly enjoyed the Rainmaker and have seen it numerous times. I must say however, that one of the reasons I like it so much is that it is so similar to the Verdict starring Paul Newman from 1982, which I loved. I am honestly surprised that there were no lawsuits regarding the two films, as I see simply names changed, characters made older or younger, etc. Matt Damon plays young, naive Rudy Baylor, a lawyer with no experience. Newman plays Frank Galvin, burnt-out alcoholic lawyer. Danny Devito plays the Jack Warden role. One case focuses upon a boy stricken with leukemia in which the insurance company will not cover a bone marrow transplant. The other film's focus is upon a woman who enters a hospital to give birth and is given the wrong anesthetic. The surprise witnesses are similar too. And the verdict in both films is extremely similar with both juries asking to be allowed to increase the monies awarded. Mr. Grisham probably thought that no one would notice 15 years later. Most didn't notice. I did.
Rating: 
Summary: Entertaining but Dreadfully Cliched and Sentimental
Review: Well here we are down south in Grisham country and here is Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon) who is an idealistic young lawyer but without the family connections of his wealthy law-school classmates forced the take a job with the shady-as-he-sounds Bruiser Stone (Mickey Rourke). Soon he has three cases come his way. First the case of the parents of a young man dying of leukaemia whose insurance company have refused to settle that will form the centre-piece of the plot. Second the case of a batty old lady (Teresa Wright), who wants to write her family out of her will in favour of some TV evangelist, who then becomes Baylor's landlady and finally his staunch ally. Finally there is Clare Danes as Kelly, a battered wife who has him coming over all male and protective and swiftly falling in love with her.
This is a very entertaining, very watchable legal drama. But, while enjoyable enough, it isn't very good. It's horribly clichéd in almost every way and often sickeningly sentimental, most notably in the scene where the now dead leukaemia victim's alcoholic father waves a photograph of the dead boy under the nose of Roy Scheider's baddie company exec. in court and more or less every scene that makes up the mawkish plot line revolving around Danes. It's all pretty efficiently executed and some of the clichés get recycled with a certain panache, most notably in the cases of Danny de Vito playing the lovable rough ambulance chasing lawyer cliché and Jon Voight playing the evil hardened old timer, Goliath to our hero's rookie David, baddie lawyer cliché. These nice performances do a fair bit to distract us from the feebleness of the more central characters, especially Damon's and Danes and the spectacular unoriginality of the whole thing. Further evidence, I fear, in favour of the hypothesis that `Francis Ford Coppola' is in fact the name of two quite distinct filmmakers, a great one who made movies in the 1970s and an utterly undistinguished one who has been making movies ever since.
Rating:
Summary: GRISHAM'S LAW
Review: THE RAINMAKER is a by the numbers adaptation of John Grisham's bestseller. Director Francis Ford Coppola explores no new grounds in this film, but elicits competent and professional performances from a stellar cast. Matt Damon who plays Rudy burst onto the scene in this movie, released just before his Oscar winning screenplay and starring role in GOOD WILL HUNTING. Damon captures the youthful impetuosity and naivete of a just bar-approved lawyer who finds himself involved in a case against a big insurance company. His assistant is played by a restrained Danny DeVito. Their boss is played by an unusually understated Mickey Rourke, who shows up on screen looking halfway decent for a change. His clients are wonderfully played by Mary Kay Place and Johnny Whitworth. Jon Voight delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as Damon's devilishly cold opponent; Roy Scheider has a brief scene as the CEO of the insurance company; Randy Travis has a thirty second scene as an irate juror; Virginia Madsen is wonderful in a small role as the claims adjustor who was fired; Claire Danes is appropriately cast as the abused wife who turns to Damon for help. Oscar winner Teresa Wright turns up in a lovely role as an elderly lady who wants to leave her money to a tv evangelist.
THE RAINMAKER is perhaps a little too long (it clocks in well over two hours), and offers little in the way of suspense. It is competent, involving and ultimately satisfying, however. Matt Damon proved the hoopla about to come was deserved.
Rating:
Summary: The Rainmaker- Worthwhile for All
Review: Adapted from a novel by John Grisham, The Rainmaker details the life of a young and poor lawyer, Rudy Baylor. Based in the South, Baylor takes on several cases: a young man battling leukemia (and the Great Benefits healthcare provider), an elderly wealthy woman revising her will, and a married woman suffering domestic violence. Donny Ray Black's case serves as the central storyline for The Rainmaker, though the movie follows Baylor and his interactions with all his clients and legal staff. Rudy Baylor serves as an exception to the legal system as a whole, and is portrayed as a man who is genuinely concerned for the well being of his clients. The Rainmaker is a well directed and acted film. Its characters, plot, and situations make the video both educational and entertaining to watch. Matt Damon, who plays Rudy Baylor, is at his best. The supporting roles played by Danny Devito (Deck Schifflet) and Claire Danes (Kelly Riker) add to the moving storylines. The most fascinating aspect of the movie, however, is its exploration of the legal ethics. The audience is encouraged to form their own opinions of the principles within the legal system from The Rainmaker's plot. Though Rudy Baylor becomes too involved with his cases, he teaches the viewers an important lesson about legal careers and life in general: that people respond to those who care. Baylor experiences both criticism and praise in his cases, and ultimately, he accomplishes several important tasks- overcoming the fraudulent Great Benefits health insurance company, freeing Riker from abuse within her marriage, and developing a trusting relationship with the older woman. The Rainmaker is both a worthwhile and thought-provoking film that explores the legal system and ethics while absorbing the interest of the film's audience.
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