The Rainmaker
written by John Grisham

The story focuses on how Luther and Nora Krank try to avoid the frenzy traditionally experienced during the Christmas holiday. On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the two bring their daughter Blair to the airport, where she departs for a year-long assignment in a remote area of Peru with the Peace Corps. Nora bemoans the fact the upcoming Christmas will be their first time they are separated as a family, prompting her husband to calculate how much they spent celebrating the holidays the prior year. When he realizes they have little to show for the $6,100 they invested in decorations, gifts, and entertaining, he decides to skip all the hubbub at home and surprise Nora by booking a ten-day Caribbean cruise aboard the Island Princess. It doesn't take long for Nora to adjust to the idea of no Christmas shopping, no Christmas tree, and no Christmas Eve party they host every year. To the couple's amazement, their neighbors on Hemlock Street strongly object to their decision to boycott the holiday, because their decision not to decorate their home will jeopardize their winning the coveted prize for best decorated block in the neighborhood. The local Boy Scout troop is dismayed when the Kranks refuse to support them by purchasing a tree, the police are angered when they decline to buy a calendar, and the stationer is upset when he loses their annual order of engraved greeting cards. Luther and Nora find themselves the objects of derision and anxiously await their departure on Christmas Day. Without warning, Blair calls on Christmas Eve to tell them she's at Miami International Airport, en route home with her Peruvian fiance as a surprise for her parents. She's anxious to introduce Enrique to her family's holiday traditions, and when she asks if they're having their usual party that night, a panicked Nora says yes, much to Luther's dismay. Comic chaos ensues as the couple finds themselves trying to decorate the house and coordinate a party with mere hours to spare before their daughter and future son-in-law's arrival.

Ed is arrested and taken to the police station to be interrogated while Hank questions Peggy at the Blumquist home. Hank mentions that Sonny, the garage mechanic who bought Peggy's car, has consented to having forensic specialists inspect the vehicle for blood traces. In Fargo, Floyd insists that "The Butcher" (Ed Blumquist) be executed, and Charlie retrieved from jail. Hours later, Dodd and accomplices arrive at the Blumquist home hunting Ed, while Bear simultaneously heads to the police station to fetch Charlie. Hanzee knocks out Hank, but Peggy subdues Dodd in her basement using his stun rod. When Ed demands a lawyer, Lou summons a drunken Karl Weathers, the only attorney in town, to the station. As Karl is leaving the station, Bear and his men arrive for Charlie. Knowing Ed would be shot on sight, Lou hatches a plan: Karl mediates with Bear, claiming that he is Charlie's lawyer and that Charlie, still a minor, will soon be released, which Karl claims is a better option than the Gerhardts' plan for bloodshed. Meanwhile, Lou sneaks Ed out a rear window, narrowly avoiding Hanzee. Bear and his men leave without incident. Hank, who has recovered enough to drive back to town, intercepts Lou and Ed, though Ed runs off, presumably back to Peggy. Ed is followed shortly after by Hanzee. Meanwhile, Simone calls Mike Milligan and reveals the Gerhardts' plan that Dodd and Bear departed for Luverne. Fed up with her father's abuse, she wants Mike to murder Dodd. Mike and his men arrive at the thinly protected farmhouse and open fire with Simone, Floyd, and Otto inside.

The Rainmaker is a 1997 American drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Matt Damon. Coppola wrote the script, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by John Grisham. Danny DeVito, Danny Glover, Claire Danes, Jon Voight, Roy Scheider, Mickey Rourke, Virginia Madsen and Mary Kay Place also star. This was the final film appearance of Academy Award-winning actress Teresa Wright.