Rain Man

RAIN MAN (1988) **** Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golina, Bonnie Hunt. My all time favorite contemporary film.

Brilliant Oscar-winning Best Picture film about quick-tempered exotic car salesman Charlie Babbitt (superlatively played by Cruise) who finds himself bilked out of his estranged father's inheritance and discovering an older brother, Raymond, (Hoffman flawlessly brilliant, Best Actor), an institutionalized autistic savant, and 'kidnaps' him in their dad's Buick Roadmaster for a cross-country odyssey of self-reflection and genuine sibling bonding. Poignant, funny, and moving character study with expert direction by Barry Levinson (Best Director and appears as a mental health envoy). Ethereally Oscar nominated haunting score by Hans Zimmer. Best scene: Cruise learning why Hoffman was "sent away." Life-affirming.

Well, it took me 21 years to watch this movie.Literally, the first time when I saw this movie was when it was released and I was back then a kid of 9 years who barely could understand the delicacy of human characters portrayed in the movie.And finally when I watched the movie again, I was 30 and boy oh boy,I was blown over.What a performance by Dustin Hoffman!!!Is it his best so far?Well, may not be, coz he is such a fine actor and he has so many good movies in his kitty.But truly it was one of his most memorable ones.And Tom Cruise, oh man, this bloke can act.I have always been so much skeptic about his acting skills.But I am happy that I have been proved wrong.He can act, thats for sure and this movie is a documentary proof of it.The best thing about this movie is of course the chemistry between them, a spoilt brat and an autistic person.The director handles such an issue with such panache that you are compelled to emote with the protagonists.Valeria Golino did an excellent job in her small role.She really sparkled in the elevator scene.The rest of the cast did a fine job, too.Overall, it is a memorable movie backed by power house performances.Don't ever take the risk of missing it.

I was thinking of the way different movies seem to be good. Some have lots of action, others a bunch of special-effects. But then it strikes you, that what represents real depth, real quality is when a movie can be good without those features. When it's the dialogue, the story and the acting that strikes you. This film has really only two characters, all others play only minor roles (Cruise's girlfriend has some importance though). Two characters basically, and one dialogue - that's all you need when you've got a script as good as this, and two such great actors. Only that is brilliant. But this film also has such fine, very true episodes, small stories in the larger film. One example is when Ray watches court TV with the working class woman and her many children out in the countryside...it's such a fine picture, just outstanding. ALL IN ALL A GREAT FILM!

It's not very difficult to see why this movie won four Oscars and was nominated for four more. The academy loves movies about people with difficult lives or with a handicap. Sometimes it almost feels like they are desperate to show that they too have a heart and so a director who hasn't won anything so far just has to make a movie with such a subject and he can be sure that he will hit the jackpot. Does that also mean that those movies are always excellent? No, although I wish they were. But it has to be said, not all of those movies are bad either, take for instance this "Rain Man". That's certainly a movie that deserves a closer watch.

When the selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt hears that his father has left behind a fortune after his death, but that he won't get it, he is furious. He has never had a good relationship with his father, who threw him out as a teenager, but he sure hoped for more than a now antique convertible. And to make things worse for Charlie, he hears that all the money goes to Raymond, an autistic man who he has never seen before in his life, but who appears to be his brother. And if that shock isn't yet big enough, the man also appears to be able to calculate complicated mathematical problems in his head with great speed and accuracy, but doesn't even understand what money can be used for. Enraged by all this 'injustice', Charlie kidnaps Raymond from his residential home, but then finds out how difficult it is to live with a man who only can live with his fixed routines...

This wouldn't have been a typical eighties movie if there hadn't been a selfish yuppie in it of course, but I must say that it didn't bother me this time. The main reason for that is because it accentuates the contrast between the two men even more. Charlie has nothing else but money on his mind, while Raymond doesn't even know what money is. That's without any doubt a very smart idea which makes this movie work. And that's not the only good thing about this movie. The acting for instance is also very good. Especially Dustin Hoffman is excellent, but that has of course much to do with the role that he is playing. Still, his performance is very believable and remarkable. And even though I'm not a huge Tom Cruise fan, I must say that he was really very good in this movie. The role he was playing seemed to be written for him.

All in all this is a very good movie that sure deserves to be seen. The acting and the story are far above average and give a good idea of what it must be like to live with an autistic person. I'm convinced that this movie certainly doesn't deserve a rating lower than 7.5/10.

I finally got to watch this movie. It really was on my radar for a very very long time. The movie's story is not unconventional by any means, but thanks to Levinson's smart direction, Ronald Bass' powerful script that adds a lot of fresh details, and the terrific performances from the leads, Rain Man feels very original. In fact, I can even see how the ending would be from the beginning, but that didn't make the slightest issue for me.

Barry Levinson presented the movie in a way that manages to generate emotion in their audience without ever feeling melodramatic. That's because Levinson avoided many clichés, the most important one of them is the typical way of storytelling. Instead of making a movie that relies on drama, he made road-trip movie that produces a catharsis of emotions more than you would ever imagine.

As a matter of fact, the movie feels as if it has a character-driven story, except it's actually not. And the result is a movie that has a very restricted and bound plot, but it never feels that way. While watching the movie, I felt that I can't expect anything. I felt as if I was watching a movie with a picaresque tale, but it's actually far from being that. Unlike Wag the Dog, Rain Man has a lot of memorable moments that will stay with you forever. In other words, Barry Levinson made Rain Man feels more cinematic than Wag the Dog. But I'll say it again, the movie never feels overly sentimental.

Dustin Hoffman gave one of the Best Performances in his career, but I really can't say if he had deserved the Oscar more than Tom Hanks in Big or not. Tom Cruise's performance is really what stands out in my opinion. I think he gave one of, if not his best performance ever. I don't want to spoil anything for who haven't watched this wonderful film yet, but there are a lot of scenes that show Cruise's acting abilities, and prove that he is underappreciated as an actor who really can deliver some exceptional dramatic performances, not just doing incredible stunts and running. I think he deserved to be nominated for an Oscar at the least.

That being said, I have some issues with Rain Man. The first one is that the beginning was a bit rushed and very fast-paced for its own good. Specially because the drama kicks off very early, and the movie should have taken its time to represent it.

The entire message of the movie has been literally revealed near the end by Tom Cruise, so that's an obvious, and a bit annoying problem.

Also, the ending could have been a little bit shorter. However, the last 15-20 minutes has some of the smartest, and most powerful dialogue ever written. And it also has the most intense and moving moments in the movie.

The moments that show Raymond math prowess were very hilarious and funny at the beginning, then they became kinda overused, but after that they were taken advantage of very cleverly.

Overall, I loved Rain Man so much, and I really don't know why there are many people who think it didn't deserve the Oscar for Best Picture. It's meticulously written, impressively directed, beautifully shot, superbly acted, engaging, moving, touching, and above all that, it's very enjoyable. Also, Zimmer's score is electrifying!

(8.5/10)