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The Rainmaker (1997)

Director:
Francis Ford Coppola
COUNTRY
USA
GENRE
Drama/Legal
NORWEGIAN TITLE
Regnmakeren

RUNNING TIME
135 minutes

Producer:
Michael Douglas
Fred Fuchs
Steven Reuther
Screenwriter (based on the novel by John Grisham):
Francis Ford Coppola


Cast includes:

CHARACTER ACTOR/ACTRESS RATING
Rudy Baylor Matt Damon
Kelly Riker Claire Danes ½
Leo F. Drummond Jon Voight
Dot Black Mary Kay Place ½
J. Lyman "Bruiser" Stone Mickey Rourke ½
Deck Shifflet Danny DeVito
Judge Harvey Hale Dean Stockwell
Jackie Lemanczyk Virginia Madsen
Billy Porter Randy Travis
Wilfred Keeley Roy Scheider
Buddy Black Red West
Donny Ray Black Johnny Whitworth
Cliff Riker Andrew Shue
"Miss Birdie" Birdsong Teresa Wright ½
Judge Tyrone Kipler Danny Glover ½

 

Review

This star-studded courtroom drama written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola is detailed and comprehensive in its treatment of the material, but completely lacks subtlety and narrative drive. As adapted from John Grisham's novel, which shall remain unassessed here, The Rainmaker is a sluggish sentimentalist of a movie, seemingly driven by its own self-righteousness. The characters are far too one-dimensional and/or dichotomic and the script is too poorly written for us to really care for the story. As far as legal dramas go, The Rainmaker feels more like a second-rate TV series than a wide cinematic release by one of the greatest directors of our time. It marked the beginning of the end for Coppola. For a far more nuanced and poignant courtroom title released in the same year, watch David E. Kelley's television show "The Practice" instead.

Copyright © 28.01.2020 Fredrik Gunerius Fevang

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