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Paramount presents The Rainmaker: Special Collector’s Edition. Written by Francis Ford Coppola with narration by Michael Herr. Based on the novel by John Grisham. 135 minutes. Rated PG-13 for a strong beating and elements of domestic abuse. Original released in 1997.
Directed By:
Francis Ford Coppola
Cast:
Matt Damon. Rudy Baylor
Danny DeVito. Deck Shifflet
Claire Danes. Kelly Riker
Jon Voight. Leo F. Drummond
Mary Kay Place. Dot Black
Johnny Whitworth. Donny Ray Black
Mickey Rourke. Bruiser Stone
Danny Glover. Judge Tyrone Kipler
Dean Stockwell. Judge Harvey Hale
Teresa Wright. Colleen ‘Miss Birdie’ Birdsong
Virginia Madsen. Jackie Lemancyzk
Roy Scheider. Wilfred Keeley
Andrew Shue. Cliff Riker
The Film:
Francis Ford Coppola is one of the greatest living American filmmakers. With films on his resume like Apocalypse Now and The Godfather it’s easy to see why. The problem with having a front-loaded filmography filled with classics, is that Coppola’s later films were always measured against those from the 1970’s. While The Rainmaker might not be one of his “classics” it’s certainly a solid courtroom drama.
Matt Damon plays Rudy Baylor, a young, ambitious lawyer who’s just passed the bar. He starts working for a slime ball lawyer named Bruiser (Rourke) as an ambulance chaser, which he doesn’t enjoy. It’s here that he meets Deck Shifflet (DeVito), a man whose biggest claim as a lawyer is failing the bar six times. His first client is a young man who’s dying from leukemia and his family’s insurance claim has been denied several times. So Rudy and Deck take the insurance company, Great Benefit, to court and the drama begins. This is a classic tale of the little man verses the big corporations. Great Benefit has a team of experienced high-priced lawyers lead by the vicious Leo F. Drummond (Voight).
All while this is happening Rudy meets Kelly Riker (Danes) a young woman with an abusive husband (Shue). Having had an abusive father Rudy sympathizes with her instantly and her problem becomes his. This is a nice romantic story to keep us out of the courtroom for a few minutes and elevates the film from other run-of-the-mill courtroom dramas.
The Rainmaker is a slow-paced courtroom drama that is entertaining from beginning to end. Coppola, who also penned the script, worked in a nice amount of humor to liven the mood from time to time. The film is a little predictable but that’s not why you watch a movie like this. The story is solid, the cast is marvelous, the acting is fantastic and the whole thing is thoroughly engaging. Damon is marvelous in this film and we are reminded of how great an actor he really is.
Whether intentional or not, it seems interesting that now, when Sicko is bringing the corruption of medical insurance companies to the forefront of everyone’s mind that this film, about that same subject, would finds it’s way to a special edition DVD.
Rudy presents his case to the jury.
The DVD:
The Video:
The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen 2.35:1. This is a great looking film and the transfer here is fantastic. But would one expect any less from Coppola?
The Audio:
The film is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. This film has a fantastic score and it and all the sound comes across great. Great surround sound all around.
Extras:
Watch The Rainmaker with Francis Ford Coppola: While on location in Budapest for Coppola’s first film in ten years, Youth Against Youth, he takes a minute to talk about why he decided to make The Rainmaker and introduces the audio commentary.
Commentary with Francis Ford Coppola and Danny DeVito: This is why we have commentaries, so we can hear what great filmmakers have to say about their great films. Coppola is a well-spoken man and is very engaging to listen to. DeVito has some interesting things to say as well. This is an interesting commentary because it’s obvious that Coppola and DeVito were not together when they recorded this. DeVito just fills in dead spots where Coppola isn’t talking. It works though.
Francis Ford Coppola directs John Grisham’s The Rainmaker: This is a fascinating look into the process Coppola uses to direct his actors. This is one of the most insightful pieces I’ve seen on directing actors, and I’ve gone film school!
Deleted Scenes — includes extended Beginning and Alternate Ending: There for scenes here, two deleted and as stated above, two extended. All of these give a lot more insight into Rudy’s character amongst other and while pretty good scenes; it is obvious why they were cut from the film.
The Rainmaker Screen Tests: These are four screen test for the film. Matt Damon, Claire Danes, Virgina Madsen and Mary Kay Place. Three of these are average screen tests. However, Mark Kay’s is very interesting. Instead of acting out a scene from the script she explains to Coppola that the character is too complex for a simple line reading to do her justice and goes into detail as to why she loves the character and wants to play her.
Special Collector’s Edition |
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The Inside Pulse
On its ten year anniversary, the last film Coppola directed gets a very respectful special edition release with a plethora of high quality special features. This film comes highly recommended.
