The Rainmaker (1997)

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Starring Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Jon Voight, Claire Danes, Danny Glover, Mary Kay Place, Teresa Wright, Virginia Madsen, Mickey Rourke, Dean Stockwell, Johnny Whitworth, Roy Scheider, Red West, Andrew Shue, Michael Girardin. [PG-13]

Surprisingly absorbing legal drama has the usual gaffes and contrivances, but presents a compelling underdog tale with a loathsome corporate antagonist in the form of an insurance company whose policy is to deny claims whenever possible. That enemy is personified by various figures, including high-priced, soulless attorney Voight; on the other side are a young man dying of leukemia (Whitworth) and his parents, their young and inexperienced lawyer (Damon) who has never argued a case in court before, and an affably shifty ambulance-chaser (DeVito) who still hasn’t passed the bar exam—maybe seventh time will be a charm? Bites off more than it can chew with sub-plots involving the drafting of a will for a little old lady (Wright, in one of her few feature film roles since the 50s, and the final one of her career) and Damon’s efforts to help a battered woman (Danes) that skirts the edges of a low-key romance; that latter storyline, which includes a violent struggle with her thuggish spouse that doesn’t belong in this movie, should have been minimized or excised completely (as is, it mostly peters out around the two-thirds mark anyway). Well-acted by a good ensemble, and refreshing in the way it allows its tenderfoot hero to hesitate, make mistakes, and feel overwhelmed throughout instead of emerge by the end as a slick firebrand of courthouse strategy. Scripted by Coppolla from a John Grisham novel; co-produced by Michael Douglas. Despite having a noteworthy role as the judge presiding over the lawsuit, Glover went uncredited.

73/100