Review of The Rainmaker (1997) by Ross M — 07 Aug 2007

This is on the one hand a fine character study with lot of interesting people and dialogue. On the other the film is a bland, formulaic attempt from the once great Francis Ford Coppola.

This movie was very strange for me; not in what actually happens but my feelings towards it once I'd seen it. There are moments here of genuinely well done film-making. There is a slew of interesting characters that at times are even more interesting to watch and listen to. Coppola shows that he has a talent for character study in this instance especially with Matt Damon's character. He shows us the affect an unfair incident has on this man and how he manages to deal with the problem. Damon is very good in this role, proving once again that he is one of the best American acting talents around. He is supported well by a few of the best 'seasoned' actors around. Particularly from Jon Voight. He certainly knows how to play a word-twisting authority figure and his presence in the film is on par with Damon's.

Sadly though outwith the strong performances there isn't really much else to the film. With the exception of a few scenes and almost out of place moments the film just isn't all that good. Overall it feels bland, unfulfilled in a sense and I felt as though it just needed an injection of adrenaline or energy to give it a lot more life. That's not to say that the film doesn't have it's moments. And that leads me onto the one other strength the film has apart from the acting. And that is the scenes or sequences in the courtroom. It's as if whenever there is a courtroom involved the director, writer and just about everyone else involved gets more involved and put a hell of a lot more effort into what they are doing. This 'courtroom strength' is something that a lot of films that are adapted from a John Grisham novel have. They seem to build and then just simmer away into nothing, then build and then simmer down again. That is until the end where even though the action is hardly anywhere to be seen, the emotion and intensity of the climax of the story is extremely involving and exciting.

Although the sensitivity of the directing and more importantly the story itself is occasionally heartwarming sometimes Coppola goes a little too far into the sentiment area and those moments (of which there are a few) just come off as extremely cheesy and eye-rolling.

What I liked about this film; the characters, the involving courtroom scenes and the acting; are what allow me to recommend this film. Just be warned that you may not get the quality you are looking for.