Critic Reviews

Callaghan gives off a scintilla of Matt Damon vibes, but is his own Rudy, keeping his naive idealist free from leading-man tics. Parrilla finds the balance between Bruiser’s sauciness and seriousness; Byrne plays the clown adeptly; and Slattery, a boss again after “Mad Men,” softens his villainy with some Roger Sterling insouciance. Developed by Michael Seitzman and Jason Richman, it’s a very watchable show.

While the material mostly shines once it gets going, The Rainmaker greatly benefits from having a great cast carrying the proceedings forward.

It’s safe, a little bit cowardly, and yet still entertaining enough, carried by Grisham’s thriller mechanics and a strong supporting cast led by John Slattery and Lana Parrilla.

The Rainmaker may yet end up a fairly solid legal drama by the time the final credits roll, but at best it will prove an uneven one. In the meantime, the jury's still out.

The series is at its best when we are introduced to Pritcher and watch in horror as his character is exposed to the outside world. However, the story isn’t as fluid or solid in scenes involving Rudy and Sarah, which should evoke emotional resonance that doesn’t memorably materialize.

What’s strange and ultimately damning about this adaptation is that, despite the broadly detailed but engaging roster of lawyer characters, there’s very little courtroom drama in the first half of the series, and instead quite a lot of kidnapping, murder, and extraneous conspiracy.

There’s a noticeable lack of fire behind it. Which sums up The Rainmaker in a nutshell: It’s a likeable enough soap opera that’s only worth half of your attention.

It’s going for a politics-free world, and it achieves it. There’s nothing objectionable, but nothing much to chew on either.

None of this is halfway interesting, and when the show cuts away from the central trio of Rudy, Bruiser and Deck, the series loses whatever snap it has, largely because the other characters are bland and undeveloped. Even Rudy is dull. That’s a matter of the writing but also the casting.

It’s depressingly pedestrian as it tells the story of recent law school grad Rudy Baylor (Milo Callaghan) who fights for the underdog in court against jerky legal lion Leo Drummond (John Slattery, chewing scenery with wild abandon)