In the widest sense, John Grisham has repeatedly written the same tale. It goes like this: In a David and Goliath story, a good person is the David, and the government, a corrupt criminal organization, or a large corporation are the opposition. That person manages to obtain what is typically only a partial win, albeit at considerable expense and compromise. It has been successful numerous times.
His novels have been made into television shows and movies. Well, it’s not a Francis Ford Coppola film. This week, a new series adaption of The Rainmaker will premiere in the USA (and be available for streaming later on Peacock).
However, many of them are very good. How good? In addition to ranking them, this very subjective list includes information on their “Grisham score,” which measures how much they subjectively feel they enjoy Grisham stories. (Disclaimers: I did not include his nonfiction or non-legal novels, nor did I obtain the 1995 TV adaptation of The Client, starring JoBeth Williams, or the failed TV pilot for The Street Lawyer, starring Eddie Cibrian. (Contrary to popular belief, not everything is available for streaming anywhere.) Additionally, I adhered to the novel adaptations, leaving out The Gingerbread Man, which was Grisham’s adaptation of a story that was never published as a novel.
9. The Firm (TV) (NBC, 2012)
Plot: The 22 episodes of NBC’s follow-up series The Firmas in 2012 were a typical network legal drama, with a case of the week every week and a recurring plot involving Mitch McDeere (Josh Lucas) and the dubious company he worked for—a different dubious company than the one he had fled years before. (Disclaimer: I’ve seen a lot more of this show than most people have, having watched the first several episodes and the final one and studied what transpired in between.)
Notable supporting cast: Juliette Lewis portrays Assistant Tammy, who is portrayed by Holly Hunter in the film. Callum In place of David Strathairn, Keith Rennie portrays Mitch’s brother.
Bad guys: large law firms, occasionally his own customers, From Battlestar Galactica, Tricia Helfer
The bottom line: The attempt to adapt Grisham to this format, where the actual story was continuously interrupted by uninteresting little cases for Mitch to tinker with, did not succeed at all, aside from the suspension of disbelief needed to believe that Mitch would stumble his way into another law firm infested with murderers. This was slow and sputtering, and Grisham stories are nothing if not escalating and compelling.
Highlight: The outrageousness of opening the season with an unexplained flash-forward showing Mitch jogging in a suit while carrying a briefcase, and then concluding the season with an equally inexplicable flash-forward showing Mitch running in an entirely different scenario
Lowlight: The rambling allusions to “the truth” that no one will stop talking about
Grisham score: 1.
8. James Foley’s 1996 film The Chamber
Plot: In order to try to stop his grandpa (Gene Hackman), who has been on death row for a long time for bombing the office of a Jewish civil rights attorney in 1967, from being executed, attorney Adam Hall (Chris O’Donnell) travels to Mississippi.
Notable supporting cast members include Bo Jackson (! ), Lela Rochon, who plays a governor’s office employee, and Faye Dunaway, who plays Adam’s aunt. That’s correct: Bo is acting.
The death sentence, racism in general, and the Ku Klux Klan in particular are the bad guys.
In summary, The Chamber is the most solemn of the Grisham adaptations. Although it involves some legal wrangling and mystery-solving, the most of the story revolves with a young man attempting to reconcile his family’s sinister legacy. The hefty plot doesn’t quite fit with the legal thriller elements. Nevertheless, it’s an attempt to explore topics that Grisham has been interested in throughout his career, such as the death sentence and centuries of bigotry.
Highlight: The enraged and vindictive Gene Hackman
Highlight: Gene Hackman’s frightening fangs
Grisham score: 9.
7. The Rainmaker (TV) (USA/Peacock, 2025)
Plot: After graduating from law school, Rudy Baylor and his girlfriend land positions in the same nefarious large law firm. After being sacked, he soon finds himself working for Bruiser’s (Lana Parrilla) tenacious little business, which represents a widow whose son is said to have died from an overdose but who is certain that there was foul play. Ultimately, the boyfriend and girlfriend find themselves on different sides of the case. A young woman in an abusive marriage is another person he meets. (Note: Only the first five episodes have been made available to critics.)
John Slattery plays the head of the big bad firm, which is a notable supporting cast member. Dan Fogler portrays a nurse who has a lot going on and a dark heart.
The bad guysLarge law firms and insurance corporations are undoubtedly involved, though this is not totally known yet.
In summary, this series isn’t very horrible, although the plot differs greatly from the book and the film. In the series, Rudy and his girlfriend argue more over the morality of their divergent decisions than the original story’s tone, which pits a tenacious underdog against a large law company. Additionally, instead of the bureaucratic evil of the original story—where a business handbook instructing employees to reject claims was sufficient to cause a tragic death—it includes a convoluted storyline full of murders. Furthermore, the battered wife’s story seemed a bit unnecessary in the original, and it seems much more unnecessary in this version.
Highlight: Roger Sterling from Mad Men is only somewhat more evil than John Slattery.
Lowlight: Bruiser is transformed into a woman who, without any very good reason, soon finds herself in a sex scene wearing lingerie.
Grisham score: 3.
6. Gary Fleder’s 2003 film Runaway Jury
Plot: In a significant civil lawsuit against a weapons manufacturer, Nick Easter (John Cusack) scuttles his way into the jury and begins plotting to sell the decision to the highest bidder.
Notable supporting cast members include Rachel Weisz as Easter’s fiancée and co-conspirator, Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman as the opposing attorneys, and Nora Dunn as a fellow juror who always wears a flask.
The bad people are the gun manufacturers and their attorneys.
In summary, the quality has significantly declined from The Client to this point. Even if a man believes he is extorting money and rigging a trial for a just cause, it is difficult to create an underdog narrative around him. How Cusack and Weisz are so certain that their plans will work out is never fully explained in the film, which also makes their schemes appear less cunning. There is also nothing here of Grisham’s usual insistence that doing something good requires giving something up, which means his flair for a bittersweet ending doesn’t quite come through.
Highlight:Hackman and Hoffman having a spicy confrontation in a courthouse restroom
Lowlight: A confusing conclusion
Grisham Rating: 6
5. Joel Schumacher, director of The Client (1994)
Plot:Lawyer Reggie Love (Susan Sarandon) agrees to represent 11-year-old Mark Sway (Brad Renfro), who has information about a mob murder and is being pressured by an ambitious prosecutor (Tommy Lee Jones) to cooperate, risking his own safety.
Notable supporting cast:Mary-Louise Parker as Mark’s mother, Bradley Whitford as one of the prosecutor’s lackeys, Anthony Edwards as Reggie’s assistant, Anthony LaPaglia as an incompetent wannabe mobster
Bad guys:Mafia, grandstanding prosecutor
Bottom line:It makes sense that Grisham would do a book where the underdog is a kid; nobody is more vulnerable and nobody needs more help to navigate the system. Unsurprisingly, Tommy Lee Jones, who appeared in this movie the year afterThe Fugitive, lends even a very obnoxious prosecutor some welcome notes of humor.
Highlight:The goodbye scene between Renfro and Sarandon, which is genuinely moving
Lowlight:A very silly action sequence set in a boathouse
Grisham Score:9
4.A Time To Kill(1996, directed by Joel Schumacher)
Plot:Samuel L. Jackson plays Carl Lee Hailey, a father on trial for shooting the violent racists who brutally assaulted his young daughter. Attorney Jake Brigance (Matthew McConaughey) and a helpful law student (Sandra Bullock) defend him.
Notable supporting cast:Kiefer Sutherland as a creep who’s trying to reinvigorate the local Klan, Oliver Platt as Jake’s cynical buddy, Ashley Judd as Jake’s wife, Kevin Spacey as the district attorney
Bad guys:Racists in general and the Ku Klux Klan in particular, an unethical showoff prosecutor
Bottom line:Despite its clunky racial politics, the adaptation of Grisham’s first novel makes it easy to understand how Matthew McConaughey instantly became a leading man. Still, much of the most effective drama comes from Jackson, including in a terrific scene where he visits the deputy, played by Chris Cooper, who lost a leg in the shooting an outcome Carl Lee did not intend, but takes responsibility for.
Highlight:Carl Lee’s speech correcting Jake’s mistaken impression that Carl Lee considers them a team
Lowlight:Even in a story taking place in a hot climate, a garish quantity of sweat
Grisham Score:9
3.The Firm(1993, directed by Sydney Pollack)
Plot:New associate Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) discovers that his fancy law firm is up to its eyeballs in organized crime and murder and so forth. You know how it is.
Notable supporting cast:Gene Hackman (who also appears inRunaway JuryandThe Chamber) as a tragically compromised attorney, Ed Harris as an FBI guy, Jeanne Tripplehorn as Mitch’s wife, Wilford Brimley as the firm’s dangerous enforcer
Bad guys:Mafia and their lawyers
Bottom line:The Firmwas the book that made Grisham a superstar, and the movie is solid. It does change Grisham’s ending, making it easier for Mitch and his wife to continue in a relatively normal life. That either sells out Grisham’s repeated theme of sacrificing the life you’ve built to do the right thing or makes considerably more sense in real life, depending on whom you ask. Also, if you think Tom Cruise has a quirky running style in theMission: Impossiblemovies, wait until you see him running inThe Firm.
Highlight:Tom Cruise beating Wilford Brimley unconscious with a briefcase
Lowlight:Tom Cruise (or, as it would appear, Tom Cruise’s stunt double?) doing gymnastics on the sidewalk while out on the town
Grisham Score:12 (yes, 12 out of 10)
2.The Rainmaker(1997, directed by Francis Ford Coppola)
Plot:Newly minted Memphis attorney Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon) takes the only job he can get, working for a flashy ambulance-chaser named Bruiser (Mickey Rourke). But when Bruiser skips town, Rudy is left alone with paralegal Deck (Danny DeVito) to represent a family whose son died after his insurance company denied coverage for a bone-marrow transplant.
Notable supporting cast:Jon Voight, as the insurance company lawyer, has never been more slimy (even while being eaten by a snake inAnaconda). Roy Scheider briefly appears as an executive so heartless even his folksy blue cardigan seems to hate his guts. Also features Claire Danes as a young woman whose abusive husband (Andrew Shue) has put her in the hospital.
Bad guys:Insurance company and their lawyers
Bottom line:The most successful of the courtroom Grishams,The Rainmakerperfectly captures the writer’s vision of the scrappy lawyer outmatched by wicked profiteers, as well as his vision of the law as a grind of depositions and discovery. Here, the biggest drama comes not from chases or guns or even courtroom speeches, but from finding the missing section that’s vanished from a company handbook. Damon is excellent and may have the best take on the quintessential Grisham underdog that an actor has come up with so far.
Highlight:A violent outburst from Randy Travis, playing a potential juror
Lowlight:A violent outburst from Andrew Shue
Grisham Score:10
1.The Pelican Brief(1993, directed by Alan J. Pakula)
Plot:Darby Shaw (Julia Roberts) is a law student who stumbles upon the answer to who killed a pair of Supreme Court justices. When those responsible figure out that she’s onto them, they come after her, and she goes to journalist Gray Grantham (Denzel Washington) for help.
Notable supporting cast:Stanley Tucci, as an assassin, has never been more evil. Also on hand are a young Cynthia Nixon as Darby’s friend, John Lithgow as Gray’s editor, and Sam Shepard as Darby’s doomed boyfriend. (Sorry, doomed boyfriend; you’re doomed.)
Bad guys:Oil magnate and his lawyers, corrupt president and his toadies
Bottom line:The most successful of the non-courtroom Grishams,The Pelican Briefdoesn’t just bring together two very charismatic leads at the height of their powers. It is carefully plotted and well-paced, and it reveals its larger conspiracy piece by piece. It is a great ride.
Highlight:A parking-garage chase that lets Pakula wink atAll The President’s Men
Lowlight:Some of Tucci’s disguises, which are (intentionally) unattractive
Grisham Score:10
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