Although his hometown of Dubuque is possibly the least homogenous city in America, Rabe in his plays delves deeply into basic human motivations that cut across universal lines. In addition to his Vietnam "trilogy", he wrote "In the Boom Boom Room" (1973-74), which centered on a go-go dancer, and "Hurlyburly" (1984), about lost chances in Hollywood and the bloated notion of creativity. He made his stage directorial debut with his own play "Those the River Keeps" in 1994.
Rabe's screen work has been sporadic, but has often yielded critically-praised material. He served as executive producer and scripter on "I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can" (1982), about a show business executive coping with her addiction to pills, which starred his wife Jill Clayburgh. He covered familiar ground with "Casualties of War" (1989), about a US patrol in Vietnam and its brutal treatment of a local girl. After an absence of many years, Rabe received screen credit alongside Robert Towne and David Rayfiel on Sydney Pollack's film version of the John Grisham novel "The Firm" (1993). In 1998, after many years of false starts, his script for "Hurlyburly" made it before the cameras with a cast led by Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey and Meg Ryan and the following year saw the filming of "In the Boom Boom Room", with Patricia Arquette in the role of the stripper.