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The Rainmaker (1997)

PG-13  |   |  Crime, Drama, Thriller  |  21 November 1997 (USA)
7.1
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Ratings: 7.1/10 from 42,877 users   Metascore: 72/100
Reviews: 137 user | 90 critic | 19 from Metacritic.com

An underdog lawyer takes on a fraudulent Insurance company.

Writers:

(novel), (screenplay), 1 more credit »
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Title: The Rainmaker (1997)

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Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 8 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Kelly Riker
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Wayne Emmons ...
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Storyline

Rudy Baylor is a jobless young attorney. However, he is also the only hope of an elderly couple whose insurance company will not pay for an operation that could save their son's life. In this judicial drama, Rudy learns to hate corporate America as he falls in love with a battered young married woman. Will he be up to the task? Written by Steve Richer <sricher@sympatico.ca>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

They were totally unqualified to try the case of a lifetime... but every underdog has his day.

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for a strong beating and elements of domestic abuse | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

21 November 1997 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

John Grisham's The Rainmaker  »

Filming Locations:

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Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$10,626,507 (USA) (21 November 1997)

Gross:

£823,492 (UK) (8 May 1998)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

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Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

Wayne Emmons, who played Prince Thomas, was also a technical legal consultant on the film. See more »

Goofs

The microphone stand when Wilfred Keeley is in the witness chair. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Rudy Baylor: My father hated lawyers all his life. He wasn't a great guy, my old man. He drank and beat up my mother; he beat me up too. So you might think I became a lawyer just to piss him off. But you'd be wrong. I wanted to be a lawyer ever since I read about the Civil Rights lawyers in the 50s and 60s, and the amazing uses they found for the law. They did what a lot of people thought was the impossible. They gave lawyers a good name. And so I went to law school. And it did piss my father ...
See more »

Crazy Credits

There is a credit for "Poet in Residence". See more »

Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #21.197 (2013) See more »

Soundtracks

How Blue Can You Get
Written by Jane Feather
Performed by B.B. King
Courtesy of MCA Records
Under license from Universal Music Special Markets
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Not always realistic, but a highly entertaining story
12 August 2004 | by (Greenville, NY) – See all my reviews

This film was sort of a comeback for Francis Ford Coppola, considering that he had not really made any films since "The Godfather Part 3", other than "Jack". In this film Matt Damon plays a young lawyer fresh out of law school, who by chance meets up with spitfire paralegal Danny DeVito, and takes on a huge and difficult case. Fully entertaining throughout, although the ending is almost completely unbeleivable, which is the only negative aspect of this film. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good courtroom drama, I thought it was one of the better ones that I have seen. I rate it *** out of ****, or maybe even a little higher.


15 of 17 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

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Why no Bluray? sashko_stefanov
Ok movie, awful soundtrack wd_40
F'in murderer -spoils joadaliscious
Why isn't Danny Glover mentioned in the cast? rossanna-1
Why was Danny Glover uncredited? fishpucky
Ending donny619
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