The Rainmaker (1997 Film) - Differences From The Novel

Differences From The Novel

The film follows the book in most details, but changes the order of events: in the book, the confrontation ending with Rudy's self-defense killing of Kelly's abusive husband occurs after the end of the trial, not during. Also, the film leaves out an important piece of information from the book that was a central point of Rudy's case: the fact that the leukemia victim had an identical twin, which would have made a transplant virtually certain to work as it would have been a perfect genetic match. The film portrays Rudy's decision to leave town with Kelly as being primarily out of a desire to remain low profile and protect Kelly, but the book depicts a much greater degree of disillusionment with the legal system and its ability to be manipulated for personal gain. The book also highlights the questionable financial viability of Rudy's firm as the failure to extract any income from the Great Benefit case greatly undermines its earning ability.

Leo F. Drummond, the defense lawyer, is a more manipulative character in the movie. While his depiction in the book is of a stuffy big firm lawyer, in the movie he adopts a more predatory attitude toward Rudy; in particular:

• In the book, Drummond objects to Rudy representing the Blacks as he has not yet received his law license. In the movie, Drummond defends Rudy in this respect, and even assists in his being sworn in. This, however, appears to have been done so that Drummond would be contesting the case against the very inexperienced Rudy.
• Drummond also deliberately breaches evidentiary law, most notably in attempting to introduce a letter from the Black's family doctor as evidence. Legally such evidence is hearsay, opinion evidence, and a breach of doctor-client privilege. It is only the involvement of Deck Shifflet that sees this contested.
• In the movie, Drummond is considerably more aggressive in cross-examination. This is mainly because the case in the film is much more argumentative and based on witness testimony, while in the book Rudy has considerably more evidence and is much better prepared.

Other differences are:

• In the book, Rudy discusses the case with Max Leuberg, a university professor, who offers advice to him on dealing with documents received from insurance companies and how to present the case. Leuberg also gives Rudy a copy of an updated Great Benefit policy specifically excluding bone marrow transplants from coverage, which is a small but significant change from the policy held by the Blacks. None of this occurs in the movie.
• One brief subplot in the book has Rudy trying to get a job with a law firm run by an idol of his, however the firm steals the Blacks case until the firm's building is destroyed by a fire and Rudy gets the case back.
• "Bruiser" Stone and "Prince" Thomas have bigger roles in the book, as they have a much more developed friendship with Rudy by helping him launch his career.
• Rudy also discusses the cases with other trial lawyers (some of whom are preparing their own cases against Great Benefit), and one of these lawyers gives Rudy the operating manuals containing the highly incriminating Section U. In the movie, these documents come from Jackie Lemancyzk, which gives rise to questions about their admissibility.
• Tyrone Kipler is more protective and supportive of Rudy (being rather biased against insurance companies) in the book, essentially forcing Drummond and his clients to accommodate Rudy in every aspect of the trial.
• In the book, Rudy offers $1.2 million as a possible settlement. Drummond doesn't convey this to Great Benefit, which raises issues of legal malpractice.
• The book is somewhat ambiguous as to whether or not Cliff Riker dies at Rudy's hands after the fight in the apartment. In the film, he is clearly still alive when Kelly tells Rudy to leave, and it is suggested that Kelly is the one who actually kills Cliff.
• In the film there are fewer witnesses called to give evidence.
• In both the book and the film, it is revealed that Great Benefit has withheld certain sections of its operating procedure manual from both the plaintiff and its own counsel. This is a clear violation of the Rules of Civil Procedure regarding disclosure of evidence during discovery. The movie, however, depicts the withholding of the operating procedure manual as an acceptable tactic, which is false.
• In the book, Tyrone Kipler is originally a partner of the law firm that Rudy's friend Booker Kane is an employee of, before accepting appointment as a judge. The film leaves out Booker Kane, as well as the link with Kipler.
• In the book, the denial letter addressed to Dot Black which ends with the sentence "You must be stupid, stupid, stupid" was written by a claims examiner at Great Benefit who Rudy never meets because the company terminated him prior to the trial; presumably to avoid having to call him as a witness. In the film, Vice President of Claims Everett Lufkin testifies he wrote the letter during a period of personal turmoil and dryly apologizes for it.