The trial ends with a plaintiff's judgment of $50.2 million. Great Benefit quickly declares itself bankrupt, thus allowing it to avoid paying the judgment.
ambulance chaserRudy Baylor's a young lawyer who goes to work for an ambulance chaser. He brings with him a case wherein a woman wants to sue an insurance company, that stalled on paying her son's medical bills, eventually he got too ill that he's now terminal.
The case goes to trial, where Drummond capitalizes on Rudy's inexperience. He gets vital testimony by Rudy's key witness, former Great Benefit employee Jackie Lemanczyk (Virginia Madsen), stricken from the record, and attempts to discredit Donny Ray's mother (Mary Kay Place).
Joel Coen later clarified that the movie is based on an actual event, but that the surrounding story is fictional. He said, “If an audience believes that something's based on a real event, it gives you permission to do things they might otherwise not accept.”Jul 25, 2016
He's about to graduate from Memphis State Law School without a well-paying job lined up or a loving family to turn to for help. His desperation leads him to become an associate for J. Lyman Stone, a successful but corrupt personal injury lawyer who turns Rudy into an ambulance-chaser.
51 years (October 8, 1970)Matt Damon / Age
History of the term 'rainmaker' The word "rainmaker" stems from Native American culture, which embraced the idea that an individual could bring rain through mysticism, religion or science. The term "rainmaker" in a business context originated in the legal profession.
Though the play is set in the Depression years of the 1930s, it resonated for rural residents of the 50s when it premiered in 1954. On Broadway, it starred Geraldine Page as Lizzie Curry, a "spinster" (in the language of the times) whose soul was as dry as the land around her father's farm.
Donny Ray was diagnosed in August of "last year," or eight months ago, as having acute leukemia.
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Most Promising ActorThe Rainmaker / Awards
In 1997, Francis Ford Coppola directed a cinematic version of John Grisham's novel, The Rainmaker. The all-star cast is led by Matt Damon as Rudy Baylor, a newly minted lawyer from Memphis who escaped a life of poverty and lands the case of a lifetime.Jul 31, 2015
Michael HerrThe Rainmaker (1997 film)The RainmakerScreenplay byFrancis Ford CoppolaNarration byMichael HerrBased onThe Rainmaker by John GrishamProduced byMichael Douglas Fred Fuchs Steven Reuther15 more rows