Themes: Underdogs, Righting the Wronged, Fighting the System
Main Cast: Matt Damon, Claire Danes, Jon Voight, Mary Kay Place, Mickey Rourke
Release Year: 1997
Country: US
Run Time: 135 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Francis Ford Coppola is both scripter and director of this drama adapted from the John Grisham novel about broke, inexperienced Memphis law-school graduate Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon), ready to take any job he can find. Signing on with slimy Bruiser Stone (Mickey Rourke), he learns ambulance-chasing tactics from Bruiser's leg man Deck Schifflet (Danny DeVito) and meets battered teen Kelly Riker (Claire Danes), abused by her husband (Andrew Shue). Baylor has his own clients -- friendly Miss Birdie (Teresa Wright), who has a large estate to dispose of, and desperate Dot Black (Mary Kay Place), whose son Donnie Ray (Johnny Whitworth) has terminal leukemia. Medical intervention could have spared his life, but the Great Benefit Insurance Company denied coverage, preventing Donnie Ray from getting a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Rudy finds a place to live in the apartment behind Miss Birdie's house. Deck and Rudy split from Bruiser to start their small firm. When they take on the Blacks' case, they go up against the insurance company's high-priced law firm and are continually thwarted by slick lawyer Leo F. Drummond (Jon Voight). Rudy's voiceover narration was scripted by Michael Herr. Filmed on location in Memphis. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Review
Matt Damon shines as a naive young Memphis lawyer whose first few cases teach him a great deal about ethics in this well-done adaptation of the John Grisham novel. Damon falls for an abused woman (Claire Danes), helps an elderly widow re-write her will, and -- in the story's central case -- takes on a team of fatcat lawyers (headed by superbly smarmy Jon Voight) representing a crooked insurance company. Director Francis Ford Coppola has assembled a terrific cast, including Danny De Vito, Roy Scheider, and Mary Kay Place, and proves once again that he is a master at getting the best from his actors. If the plot machinations strain credibility at times, the heartfelt performances, brisk pacing, and unexpected comic moments more than make up for it, resulting in one of the more entertaining Grisham adaptations to hit the screen. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Danny DeVito - Deck Schifflet; Dean Stockwell - Judge Harvey Hale; Teresa Wright - Miss Birdie; Virginia Madsen - Jackie Lemancyzk; Andrew Shue - Cliff Riker; Red West - Buddy Black; Johnny Whitworth - Donny Ray Black; Wayne Emmons - Prince Thomas; Adrian Roberts - Butch; Roy Scheider - Wilfred Keeley; Randy Travis - Billy Porter; Michael Girardin - Everett Lufkin; Randall King - Jack Underhall; Justin Ashforth - F. Franklin Donaldson; Michael Keys Hall - B. Bobby Shaw; Danny Glover - Judge Tyrone Kipler (uncredited)
Credit
Jeff McDonald - Art Director, Robert K. Shaw, Jr. - Art Director, Gary Scott Marcus - Associate Producer, Linda Phillips-Palo - Casting, Georgia Kacandes - Co-producer, Aggie Guerard Rodgers - Costume Designer, Gary Scott Marcus - First Assistant Director, Francis Ford Coppola - Director, Roman Coppola - Second Unit Director, Barry Malkin - Editor, Melissa Kent - Editor, Elmer Bernstein - Composer (Music Score), Howard Cummings - Production Designer, John Toll - Cinematographer, Michael Douglas - Producer, Fred Fuchs - Producer, Steven E. Reuther - Producer, Barbara Munch - Set Designer, Scott P. Murphy - Set Designer, Nelson Stoll - Sound/Sound Designer, Francis Ford Coppola - Screenwriter, Bob Yeoman - Screenwriter, John Grisham - Book Author
