Paramount+ Legal Crime Thriller Is A ’90s Standout With Tons Of Stars

Based on the 1995 John Grisham novel of the same name, The Rainmaker follows a young law school graduate named Rudy who struggles to establish himself in the legal world. Rudy ends up working for an ambulance-chasing lawyer named Bruiser, who, along with his paralegal Deck, runs a legally questionable law office. After Bruiser flees the country to avoid an investigation, Rudy takes up his case and tries to establish himself as a lawyer. 

Unlike most legal dramas which focus on high-powered attorneys and legal procedure, The Rainmaker has a much more grim and gritty feel. Bruiser is unapologetically sleazy with his legal practices, and Rudy is involved in covering up the murder of an abusive husband. Even the movie’s court scenes are far from predictable, with a judge’s sudden mid-trial heart attack being a pivotal plot point. 

Part of what makes The Rainmaker such a noteworthy movie is the incredible talent assembled to make it. The cast includes Matt Damon, Danny DeVito, Claire Danes, Jon Voight, Dean Stockwell, Virginia Madsen, Mickey Rourke, Roy Scheider, and Danny Glover. It was also written and directed by legendary filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, best known as the director of The Godfather. 

Despite the involvement of Coppola, the amazing cast, and the name recognition of John Grisham, The Rainmaker was something of a flop. Earning $45.9 million on a $40 million budget the film was considered a major disappointment at the time. Its returns were unfavorably compared to other Francis Ford Coppola movies and The Firm, an earlier adaptation of a John Grisham novel starring Tom Cruise. 

Despite the poor box office returns, The Rainmaker was well-received by critics. The movie has an 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score that’s almost as high. It was praised for its direction and all-around great acting, with some declaring it the best adaptation of a Grisham novel.

The Rainmaker stands out in Francis Ford Coppola’s filmography as something of a forgotten masterpiece, perhaps because of when it came out. Coppola is regarded as one of the best filmmakers of the ’70s and ’80s, but aside from Bram Stoker’s Dracula, the 90s were seen as a period of declining quality for the director. The critically panned Robin Williams movie Jack came out in 1996 and may have harmed Coppola’s reputation before the 1997 legal drama, reducing the draw his name once held. 

Made by some of Hollywood’s greatest creators and based on a popular author’s novel, it’s strange that The Rainmaker was so overlooked. It’s even more odd that it has remained relatively unknown in the years since it came out. Fans looking for a legal drama that doesn’t stick to the genre’s usual mold and fans of Coppola should check out The Rainmaker on Paramount+.