(29) The Rainmaker

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Rated PG-13
1997
135 minutes

****

Coppola's adaptation of a Grisham novel about an idealistic young lawyer who leaves his seedy first law firm and starts a new one with his partner (Danny Devito) to try and sue an insurance company that refused to pay out a Leukemia claim. Everyone is cast perfectly here, particularly Jon Voight as the ruthless defense lawyer and Mickey Rourke as Damon's first boss. Very formulaic, and the entire storyline with Claire Danes' character seemed unnecessary (and incomplete, at that; I would bet the relationship is much more developed in the novel), but I certainly found myself wrapped up in this when the verdict came in.