Rainmaker (Spanish) (Sub)

Buy This Item Rainmaker (Spanish) (Sub) by Paramount  Available from Amazon  $9.95  on 11-28-2008     When viewed from a cranky perspective, this by-the-book David vs. Goliath story doesn't offer any surprises, and it's a bit sad to watch director Francis Coppola (who also adapted John Grisham's bestseller) squandering his once-glorious talent on such conventional Hollywood fare. In a more charitable light, however, there's great pleasure to be found in Coppola's intelligent, no-nonsense handling of a plot that's every bit as involving as it is formulaic. Coppola also knows how to bring out the best in a stellar cast, and this is the movie (released in November 1997, just a few weeks before <i>Good Will Hunting</i>) that signaled Matt Damon's arrival as a major-league star. Damon plays Rudy Baylor, a young rookie lawyer in Memphis (location of many Grisham stories) who takes on a powerful insurance company (led by a sharklike lawyer played by Jon Voight) by representing the family of a boy who was denied potentially life-saving treatment for leukemia. Rudy also comes to the rescue of an abused wife (Claire Danes) and learns the tricks of the legal trade from a seasoned paralegal (Danny DeVito), who sees Rudy as his ticket out of the sleazeball practice run by a shady lawyer (Mickey Rourke). There's no mystery about where this plot is going, but Coppola takes us there in high style with a sharp script, and Damon strikes just the right note of naivete and strategic intelligence. When Goliath inevitably falls, this courtroom David wins fair and square. <i>--Jeff Shannon</i> Reader Reviews Terrific film featuring Bahstin favorite Damon fluently adapting southern dialect as a novice lawyer, genuinely interested in helping underdog clientele. DeVito is equally effective as a setup man who can't pass the Bar exam, but is a terrific funnel for future clients.The duet forms a legitimate partnership and away we go with Damon simultaneously defending a dying young man against a corrupt insurance company and a young woman, Danes, who finally puts an end to her wife beating husband.With DeVito doing the legwork, our heroes win both cases, too well in fact. The insurance company declares bankruptcy, no one wins a penny.Yet the family of the leukemia victim finds peace of mind in putting a corrupt firm out of business, while Danes and Damon depart together to contemplate their futures; their lives already deeply disillusioned.One point- the film's title may confuse some- this is not "Rainman" with Dustin Hoffman.However, this movie can stand on its own two feet in any weather, thank you.

Rainmaker (Spanish) (Sub) Available from Amazon Price: $9.95 Updated on 11-28-2008.

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