The film adaptation of John Grisham’s "The Rainmaker," written & directed by Francis Ford Coppola and released in 1997, features Matt Damon as a young lawyer just starting out in Memphis. He finds himself battling an insurance company that is acting dishonestly, with Danny DeVito alongside him as his paralegal and Claire Danes appearing as a woman who has suffered abuse and might become romantically involved. Jon Voight portrays the opposing attorney for the insurance firm, while Roy Scheider plays the corporation’s chief executive officer. Beyond Coppola's established skill behind the camera, the ensemble cast is impressive, including Mickey Rourke in the role of a successful lawyer, Virginia Madsen as a witness, and Dean Stockwell & Danny Glover serving as judges. This movie marked Damon's emergence as a leading actor, which helped lead to later successes like “Good Will Hunting” (1998) and “Saving Private Ryan” (1998). He comes across well in the part of the principled young lawyer, and I appreciated how the film subtly reveals his new life at home with an older woman, along with other developing connections. This is primarily a drama featuring plenty of courtroom scenes; so viewers shouldn't anticipate the kind of excitement found in other Grisham adaptations like “The Firm” (1993) or "The Pelican Brief" (1993), although there *is* an intense action sequence later on. The initial portion moves deliberately, allowing for realistic and amusing moments, before transitioning into a captivating final act. For anyone interested in the realities of the legal system in America—both its positive and negative aspects—"The Rainmaker" is worth seeing. The film earned $46 million within the United States from a production budget of $40 million (excluding international earnings), but was still viewed as underwhelming when compared to “The Firm,” which had a similar cost but generated six times more revenue at theaters. Following this, Coppola stepped away from directing for ten years before returning with "Youth Without Youth" (2007). THE FILM has a running time of 2 hours and 15 minutes and was filmed in the Memphis area of Tennessee, as well as Cleveland, Ohio and California (Alameda, Oakland, San Francisco). GRADE: B

Source on TMDB