There's One Very Good Reason To Watch USA Network's 'The Rainmaker'

USA Network’s new legal drama The Rainmaker should be television catnip for me. True story: Back in 1997, I had plans to go out to dinner and watch The Rainmaker with my girlfriend at the time. I was so excited about it that when she took a detour before the movie — only to bring me back home for a surprise party — I had to hide my devastation. A surprise party is fine, but young Matt Damon in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rainmaker? For a huge movie fan who loved Grisham’s novels and was about to enter law school? You can’t beat that.

Needless to say, USA Network’s The Rainmaker is decidedly not Francis Ford Coppola’s The Rainmaker. Milo Callaghan is no Matt Damon, P.J. Byrne is no Danny DeVito, Robyn Cara is no Claire Danes, and, well, I’ll take Lana Parrilla over Mickey Rourke. But there is one place where the television series actually improves on the movie: its villain, Leo F. Drummond, played by John Slattery in the series (and Jon Voight in the film).

That’s the thing — a good villain can make or break a television drama, and so far, Slattery is killing it. He’s the best (and potentially only) good thing about The Rainmaker aside from Grisham’s solid source material.

Milo Callaghan plays Rudy Baylor, who’s fired on his first day at a big law firm for challenging the managing partner, Slattery’s Leo Drummond. It’s a crap situation because Rudy’s girlfriend also works there, and the two are moving in together. After hustling to find another job, he lands a low-paying gig with a blue-collar law firm run by Bruiser Stone (here played by Lana Parrilla).

The salary is terrible, his only support staff is paralegal Deck Shifflet (P.J. Byrne), who has failed the bar seven times, and he has to find his own clients. He does, however, have a lead on one: Dot Black. On his first and only day at Drummond’s firm, he delivered her a lowball settlement offer over the overdose death of her son. She rejected it, but Rudy returns and offers to represent her against his old firm, setting up a David vs. Goliath showdown between Rudy and Drummond, who will be flanked by Rudy’s girlfriend — or likely ex-girlfriend by then.

It’s a good setup (thanks, Grisham!), but I wish more care had gone into the pilot episode, which only really comes alive when John Slattery is on screen. There’s a scene where Rudy’s girlfriend, Sarah (Madison Iseman), gets an attaboy from Drummond and tries to use it to plead Rudy’s case. Drummond says nothing as he eats his lunch. He drops a fry on the floor; Sarah sheepishly picks it up and puts it back. He drops another; she picks it up again. When she finally asks, “What is going on here?” he replies icily, “I’m putting you in your place,” before dismissing her.

In that moment, I absolutely despised Leo Drummond. But it was also the moment that convinced me to keep watching. Despite the otherwise mediocre drama, I want to see Rudy Baylor take him down. And honestly, that’s reason enough. Still, I’d probably rather have a surprise birthday party than watch. Probably.

‘The Rainmaker’ airs Fridays on USA Network and, best I can tell, the next day on Peacock.