The Rainmaker, on USA

After the great stress and expense of law school, incoming associate expect to take their place as newly minted masters of the universe. Unfortunately, Rudy Baylor couldn’t quite cross the finish line into the promised land, because he was unwilling to pay the final costs of admission: his dignity and his personal integrity. Instead, he talked back to the bullying senior partner. At least Baylor will see Leo F. Drummond again, as opposing counsel, in showrunner Michael Seitzman’s The Rainmaker, based on John Grisham’s novel, which premieres Friday on USA.

Reportedly, Grisham considered Francis Ford Coppola’s 1997 movie to be the best film adaptation of his books, so the pressure is on for co-creators Seitzman and Jason Richman. It is hard to remember, but back then, getting cast as Baylor was career-making coup for Matt Damon, so British thesp Milo Callaghan can only hope for a similar boost. As a promising start, he sounds passingly accentless as the working-class Charleston kid on the verge of making good.

However, Drummond tries to use Baylor as a punching bag during new associates’ orientation at tony Tinley Britt. Baylor talks back, which gets him fired. The only firm left that will touch him expects their lawyers to cover their salary by drumming up personal injury business. Jocelyn “Bruiser” Stone and her luckless paralegal Deck Shifflet (a six-time bar exam flunker) might lack prestige, but they are colorful.

Baylor also has a line on a potential money-maker. Dot Black wanted to sue the hospital whose malpractice allegedly killed her son, but Baylor could not previously advise her, because the corporate medical group was a Tinley Britt client. Now, he would happily give his former (briefly) firm a black eye. However, things will get complicated, because his girlfriend Sarah Plankmore happens to be a junior Tinley Britt associate, who was just assigned to the hospital account.

As Baylor’s relationship frays, he risks the wrath of his neighbor’s abusive husband, who (rightly) suspects the trainee-attorney has eyes for his wife. Baylor also has the increasingly risky task of finding Melvin Pritcher, a former nurse fired by the hospital under suspicious circumstances, who will likely be news to fans of the book and movie.

Ironically, Seitzman & Richman’s departures from the source novel will make the series more “Grisham-esque” for viewers who only know the author from movies like The Firm and The Pelican Brief. Based on the first five episodes provided for review, they give the story a decidedly more thrillerish tone.

Indeed, Dan Fogler is massively creepy as Pritcher. His character might be new and different, but his performance works. Of course, John Slattery is back on familiar ground playing the arrogant and devious Drummond, but he still chews the scenery with relish.

Weirdly, Lana Parrilla can now proudly lay claim to playing the same role as Mickey Rourke, that of “Bruiser” Stone. Obviously, Seitzman & Richman did a bit of gender-swapping and backstory fudging. In their defense, it is a lot of fun to watch Parrilla sashay through her scenes, snarling at all the dumb men around her. Frankly, her portrayal of the cynical, hard-drinking, sexual confident Bruiser would not be out of place in a Bravo reality series.

Initially, P.J. Byrne seemingly overplays the low-class Louie De Palma shtick as Shifflet (previously played by Danny Devto), but he fleshes the character out in oddly endearing ways. Conversely, Callaghan and Madison Iseman first seem appealingly earnest as Baylor and Plankmore, but their characters remain terminally bland and the denial and dysfunction of their relationship dynamics grows increasingly annoying to sit through, to a fingernails-on-a-blackboard degree.

Frustratingly, there is little to no local southern flavor, which was a big miss. Still, it is amusing to watch Slattery, Parrilla, and even Byrne doing their sleazy legal business. Overall, it is an intriguing mix of Grisham and not-Grisham that will satisfy consumers of the legal-thriller genre he popularized, more so than many of his later novels. Recommended as causal viewing for casual fans, The Rainmaker airs this Friday (8/15) on USA.