DATE: Sunday, November 23, 1997             TAG: 9711220040

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E9   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Movie Review

SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC 

                                            LENGTH:   68 lines

COPPOLA, CAST MAKE BEST GRISHAM YET

``THE RAINMAKER'' is the most outright entertaining of the film adaptations of John Grisham's increasingly repetitive courtroom-obsessed novels. Director Francis Ford Coppola has assembled a first-class cast and simply let them run with the film. The result is a return to old-fashioned melodrama that will keep audiences diverted.

The setting is the law business in Memphis. Yet again, Grisham's central character is an idealistic young lawyer who takes on the big boys. It's a star-making role for baby-faced Matt Damon who is in almost every scene of the film and works hard to keep up with the veterans. He's previously been seen in ``School Ties'' and ``Courage Under Fire'' and is set to star in his own screenplay, ``Good Will Hunting,'' soon. He's required to react a great deal - a difficult assignment. Remarkably, he manages to suggest naive idealism while still being continually shocked at all the dirty courtroom tactics.

Fresh out of law school, the character Rudy signs on with a shady law firm run by the seedy Bruiser Stone, with legal secretaries from the nude bar next door. Bruiser is played by the always-eccentric Mickey Rourke. When the law catches up with him, young Rudy throws in with another seedy lawyer, Deck Shifflet, to form his own, pitiful, firm. Shifflet, played hilariously by Danny DeVito, is the kind of lawyer who chases every ambulance.

The two take on a case against an insurance company, a corporate giant called Great Benefit.

Mary Kay Place, in what should be an Oscar-nominated performance, plays the tough Mom of Donny Ray Black, a boy who is dying of leukemia because the insurance company won't pay for treatment. She's the epitome of the steely Southern woman but she never goes overboard with the characterization. Hers is the best performance in a group of fine performances.

Claire Danes is an abused young wife. Rudy-Matt takes more than a professional interest in trying to help her. Andrew Shue, of TV's ``Melrose Place,'' is her abusive husband.

Jon Voight is Leo F. Drummond, the big-time, never-loses lawyer who represents the insurance company. He does everything but chew up the scenery but it's still believable that this kind of lawyer would act this way. Danny Glover is the judge, a liberal who is prone to take on the insurance company. Virginia Madsen is an all-important witness. Roy Scheider is the head of the heartless insurance company.

Teresa Wright, who won an Oscar in 1942 for ``Mrs. Miniver,'' is Miss Birdie, the landlady who takes Rudy in. She's a lovable mother figure while never quite being a stereotype.

Dean Stockwell is an arrogant judge.

The oddest in an all-star list is country singer Randy Travis as a juror who has been set up to trap Voight in a tricky legal maneuver.

There's not a weak performance in the lot and there are enough plot twists to keep you watching, but perhaps not to keep you guessing. Grisham's plots are becoming much too predictable, but Coppola has the good sense to play this one for lightness and entertainment. The result, sparked by a melodramatic score by the veteran Elmer Bernstein, is great fun. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

MOVIE REVIEW

``John Grisham's The Rainmaker''

Cast: Matt Damon, Claire Danes, Jon Voight, Mary Kay Place,

Mickey Rourke, Danny DeVito, Danny Glover, Virginia Madsen, Roy

Scheider, Teresa Wright, Dean Stockwell, Andrew Shue, Randy Travis,

Red West, Johnny Whitworth

Director and Screenplay: Francis Ford Coppola

Music: Elmer Bernstein

MPAA rating: PG (one sexual theme, some shady characters)

Mal's rating: Three stars