The Rainmaker, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on a novel by John Grisham, with Matt Damon, Danny DeVito

The Rainmaker, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, based on a novel by John Grisham, with Matt Damon, Danny DeVito

-          This note will concentrate on the Positive Aspects of this motion picture, using a Positive Psychology lens

-          And I think that this motion picture has at its core one of the most important elements of a Happy Life:

-          Calling

-          And this could be a challenge, given that not only the hero, but quite a few of the other personages are…

-          Lawyers!

-          This is the most Negative Profession imaginable, with the highest rates, at least in America, of:

-          Suicide, depression and divorce

-          There are of course plenty of jokes, with sharks and professional courtesy and even the hero jokes about them

-          Looking at his Best Possible Self- which is a Happiness Exercise by the way- he fears he could become like

-          Leo Drummond, who has been his opponent in court and throughout the film and is the epitome of the greedy lawyer

-          This profession, like any other, can be looked at in different ways, even if it is auspicious for negativity:

-          In almost every domain, there would be three groups of people choosing an activity that the first set:

-          Will see as a job, just get there and stay, work, whatever between nine and five and get the paycheck

-          The second class of individuals will be interested in a little bit more than pay and that will be a career

-          The most fortunate and Ultimately the Happiest are those in the third category that have found their:

-          Calling!

-          And this is where the protagonist of this film, Rudy Baylor aka Matt Damon is placed, Passionate as he is about the law

-          This young lawyer, who has just passed his bar exam and is faced with a very difficult trial has most of the Character strengths and Virtues identified by Martin Seligman and his colleague Peterson:

-          Integrity, Bravery, Persistence, Vitality, Kindness, Social Intelligence, Appreciation of Excellence

-          Gratitude, Hope, Humor, Self-regulation, Prudence, Modesty, Mercy and Forgiveness, Fairness,

-          Perspective, Love of Learning, Open-mindedness, Curiosity and let us end the list here with Creativity

-          Love is the most important of all these traits and Rudy loves his job aka calling and Kelly Riker, the woman he saves

-          Donny Ray Black is dying because of his leukemia, but perhaps most of all on account of the greed of a big corporation

-          The insurance company where he has a policy has denied his treatment eight times and thus killed him

-          They even went as far as to write to his mother, in their eighth rejection that:

-          “you are stupid, stupid, stupid”

-          In court, it is the job of the novice, but Resilient and Persistent Rudy to make the insurance company pay

-          It is no easy task and the film is interesting as one of the best courtroom dramas, with a reputable lawyer in the enemy camp

-          He was already mentioned as representing Evil, the Devil who has no ethics, values other than Big Money

-          There is a repeated joke that refers to the salary of Leo Drummond aka Jon Voigt which is supposedly

-          $ 1,000 per minute…

-          Notwithstanding his reputation, experience, gravitas, knowledge of the law and the ways clients can win no matter how guilty, this heavyweight is defeated by a rookie, a lawyer at his very first case

-          It is David fighting Goliath

-          But more crucial, it is a conflict between Good and Evil, Greed and Dedication, the Devil and the good Angel

Wondrous motion picture!