structural:summarization, quality:corruption
The Rainmaker (1997)

The last film Coppola directed in the 1990s, The Rainmaker, was based on the 1995 novel of the same name by John Grisham. An ensemble courtroom drama, the film was well received by critics. Roger Ebert gave The Rainmaker three stars out of four, remarking: "I have enjoyed several of the movies based on Grisham novels... but I've usually seen the storyteller's craft rather than the novelist's art being reflected. By keeping all of the little people in focus, Coppola shows the variety of a young lawyer's life, where every client is necessary and most of them need a lot more than a lawyer." James Berardinelli also gave the film three stars out of four, saying that "the intelligence and subtlety of The Rainmaker took me by surprise" and that the film "stands above any other filmed Grisham adaptation." Grisham said of the film: "To me it's the best adaptation of any of... I love the movie. It's so well done." The film grossed about $45 million domestically, more than the estimated production budget of $40 million, but a disappointment compared to previous films adapted from Grisham novels.

According to Coppola, starting from this film onwards, he stopped working as a "professional director", preferring to act more like a student who tried to understand what meant making a film, choosing to self-finance some "very small, low-budget" movies. Thus, those films weren't meant to be successful but instead teach him what making films really mean, learning a lout about acting to the point of carrying out unusual rehearsals.