The Rainmaker

Francis Ford Coppola is both scripter and director of this drama adapted from the John Grisham novel about broke, inexperienced Memphis law-school graduate Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon), ready to take any job he can find. Signing on with slimy Bruiser Stone (Mickey Rourke), he learns ambulance-chasing ...more

Matt Damon shines as a naive young Memphis lawyer whose first few cases teach him a great deal about ethics in this well-done adaptation of the John Grisham novel. Damon falls for an abused woman (Claire Danes), helps an elderly widow re-write her will, and -- in the story's central case -- takes on a team of fatcat lawyers (headed by superbly smarmy Jon Voight) representing a crooked insurance company. Director Francis Ford Coppola has assembled a terrific cast, including Danny De Vito, Roy ...more