Day 30: Your Favorite Movie Adapted From A Book

THE RAINMAKER (1997)

This one was a tough choice. And it wasn't because I had plenty of rounds in the chamber. I'm a reader, but not a big reader. Nine times out of ten, I'm usually disappointed with film adaptations of novels for the obvious reason that they couldn't get it right. Too much detail can't be put on screen and because of it, I feel let down.

But I'm also conflicted with the thought that if I see the movie first, I'll lose interest in wanting to read -- let alone finish the book -- so it's a ongoing battle with being let down or slacking. With this movie/novel combination, I had seen the movie when it was released in the theater and then read the book a few years later, so thankfully I wasn't disappointed.

The Rainmaker made this list because it was extremely faithful to the book. It took liberties where it needed to, but the core of the novel, along with the first-person narration, was carried over perfectly. I was very surprised that Coppola adapted this book, but he did a great job.

And I'll never forget back in 1996 when flying back home from Tennessee to California where I sat next to a a man that I assumed was an actor that was flying out to audition for a role. I looked down and took a peek at the script underneath his seat when he went to use the bathroom and saw: "John Grisham's The Rainmaker" written by Francis Ford Coppola.