The Rainmaker (1997)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A young lawyer must navigate a high-stakes legal battle against a massive insurance corporation after his mentor disappears.
The story
Recent Memphis State University Law School grad Rudy Baylor has no high-paying work prospects lined up. He takes a job at a Memphis bar where he meets the bar's owner, J. Lyman "Bruiser" Stone, who is also a ruthless but successful ambulance chaser. He hires Rudy as an associate. Bruiser's associates only get paid by finding cases and working them up for trial. Rudy says he has cases, including an insurance bad faith matter he boasts could be worth several million in damages. Interested, Bruiser introduces Rudy to office paralegal Deck Shifflet, a former insurance adjuster of questionable ethics who has a law degree but has failed the bar exam six times.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After Bruiser disappears following an FBI raid, Rudy and Deck pool their money to open a practice. They take on the case of a terminally ill boy, Donny Ray, whose insurance was denied for a life-saving transplant. Rudy faces off against the prestigious firm Tinley Britt. After a judge dies of a heart attack, a new judge, Tyrone Kipler, fast-tracks the case. During the process, Rudy becomes involved with Kelly Riker, a victim of domestic violence, and helps her escape her abusive husband. The case goes to trial where Rudy must overcome several hurdles to get key evidence admitted. He successfully cross-examines the insurance CEO and wins a massive judgment for the family. However, the insurance company declares bankruptcy, meaning no payout is made, but the company is effectively destroyed. Rudy decides to leave his practice to become a law teacher and leaves town with Kelly.
- First release year
- 1997
- Runtime (minutes)
- 135
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Francis Ford Coppola
- Writers
- Francis Ford Coppola · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Matt Damon · Rudy S. Baylor; Claire Danes · Kelly Riker; Jon Voight · Leo F. Drummond; Mary Kay Place · Margarine "Dot" Black; Mickey Rourke · J. Lyman "Bruiser" Stone; Danny DeVito · Deck Shifflet; Danny Glover · Judge Tyrone Kipler; Roy Scheider · Wilfred Keeley
- Genres
- legal drama; crime thriller
- Themes
- justice; corporate greed; underdog triumph
- Tone and mood
- serious; dramatic
- Premise and plot tags
- legal drama; courtroom drama; insurance fraud
- Source material / true-story basis
- John Grisham's 1995 novel of the same name
- Content notes
- domestic violence
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews from critics and was considered a disappointment for a film adaptation of a Grisham novel compared to The Firm.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 72 · scale: 100 · review count: 19
- Awards and nominations
- Blockbuster Entertainment Awards · Favorite Actor – Drama · Nomination; Golden Globe Awards · Best Supporting Actor · Nomination; NAACP Image Awards · Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture · Nomination; Satellite Awards · Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Drama · Nomination; USC Scripter Award · USC Scripter Award (John Grisham and Francis Ford Coppola) · Nom1
- Production trivia
- The film was already attracting substantial interest before the novel was published.; Francis Ford Coppola worked directly with Grisham on the first cut of the film.; The film was considered a disappointment compared to The Firm despite a similar budget.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…