Rain Man
Directed by Barry Levinson
Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow
1988/USA
United Artists/The Guber-Peters Company/Star Partners II Ltd./Mirage Enterprises
Repeat viewing/Amazon Instant Video
#820 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] Charlie: What you have to understand is, four days ago he was only my brother in name. And this morning we had pancakes.[/box]
This movie made me tear up. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Charlie Bennett (Tom Cruise) is a self-absorbed young wheeler-dealer. As the story begins, his car dealership is in deep trouble with some clients and a lender. The fast-talking Charlie is an expert at putting people off with lies. He takes a break from his woes with a road trip with his Italian girlfriend Susanna (Valeria Golino). He’s less good at having an actual conversation. In the midst of the drive, Charlie learns that his father has died. Susanna accompanies him to the funeral in Cincinnati.
Charlie is a bundle of resentment. His mother died when he was too young to remember her. For years, he has held on to anger with his father for a) not letting him drive the father’s prized convertible, b) reporting the car as stolen when Charlie drove it any way, and c) letting the police hold him in jail. The two had been estranged since Charlie left home at 16 because of that incident. After the funeral, Charlie learns that all his father has left him is that car and his cherished rose bushes. The house and dad’s three million dollar estate have been left in trust to an unnamed beneficiary.
Soon enough, Charlie traces the trustee to a home for mentally challenged adults. By chance, he is brought into contact with his autistic savant brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). He had never before known he had a brother. He decides to basically kidnap Raymond to finagle half of the inheritance.
Charlie is totally unprepared for the demands of caring for an autistic person. He has a hard time putting up with Raymond’s repetitive behavior, need for strict routines, and tantrums when confronted with change or overstimulated. Nevertheless, Charlie is determined to milk the situation for what it is worth. His behavior so disgusts Susanna that she leaves him to cope with Raymond on his own.
The rest of the story follows the pair’s long car journey from Cincinnati to Los Angeles and the gradual blossoming of Charlie’s connection with his brother and with his own past and emotions.
Dustin Hoffman won the Oscar but I thought Tom Cruise was his equal. Cruise is never better than when he plays this kind of hustler. The script is intelligent and, while the whole project screams Movie of the Week, manages to avoid many of the more cringe-worthy cliches that plague this genre. There’s not enough uplifting movies out there. This is an excellent one.
Rain Man won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Hoffman), and Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. It was nominated in the categories of: Best Cinematography (John Seale); Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Film Editing; and Best Music, Original Score (Hans Zimmer).
Trailer
