User reviews

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.

Dustin Hoffman's performance as Raymond Babbitt is,bar none,the best acting performance I have ever seen.I have never seen an actor get so deeply immersed in a character than Hoffman does in this film.He is excellent here,and he deserved nothing less than the Oscar he won for it.As for Tom Cruise,his performance as Raymond's childish and hotheaded brother is also worthy of note.To watch his character slowly shed his ignorance throughout the course of the film was indeed a delight.If you have not seen it,don't deprive yourself any longer.Buy it.It's a keeper.

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 is something of a great cinematic achievement that Rain Man became the great film it clearly is because the story surrounding it is interestingly Hollywood in itself.

Four directors, six screenwriters, two cinematographers, eight producers, writers strikes, crew change, and a studio fighting for its life.

All of the above are common knowledge but it doesn't hurt to remember these facts when viewing the award wining triumph of a movie that stands the test of time today. The film is so simple in structure it really needed something special to pull it out of the prospective banality of being "just another road movie about finding oneself", Rain Man achieves something special by tackling its subjects with very sensitive hands and splicing a believable human concept into the story via the incredible shows from its two leading men.

Dustin Hoffman gives a magical moving performance as the Autistic Savant Raymond, the ultimate complement I can pay the performance is that it really is believable, both moving and clever rolled into one artistic result. Tom Cruise is equally as great in a role that called for drastic layer changes, a role that demanded much conviction from the actor taking it on, and Cruise gives the role much depth as he goes from shallow bastard to a very emotive and feeling human being, it's a great show that stands up to reevaluation these days. A performance that seems to have sadly been forgotten in light of Hoffman's film stealing show. With a film such as this you pray that the ending can do it justice, and I'm glad to say that there is no pandering here, it's an ending that says so much because it doesn't cop out, I thank god for those rewrites because the endings to the original scripts would of had me booting the TV set out of the window.

Essential cinema. 10/10

I have seen this movie probably 7 or 8 times in the past three years, wrote a paper about it for my college film class last semester, and basically regard it as my favorite movie of all time. Where to begin with the praise for this movie? Let's start with the acting. Dustin Hoffman is my favorite actor, and has been for a while. I'd watch him in any role. I was amazed at the way he was able to pull off this role. I've never seen a more deserved Oscar win. The vacant stare, the monotone voice, the screaming, it was unbelievable. Each time I watch it I am floored by his talent. Tom Cruise is also good, the villain of the story who undergoes such a subtle change that it's almost not visible until nearly the end. He is, however, perfectly suited for the flashy, egotistical character of Charlie, and I think he did a great job. The directing was unobtrusive and beautiful, for the most part just letting the action unfold, which is exactly the way it should have been done. It's a feel-good movie that does that and more, and I think nothing I've seen in the movies is as touching as the scene in the motel where Charlie discovers who "Rain Man" really is. I give this movie a 9.5 out of 10. Absolutely wonderful.

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.

Hollywood always believed that if a movie dealt with a serious theme in an entertaining manner it was somehow worthy of consideration which is why so many second-rate films like "Rain Man" ended up winning the Academy Award for Best Picture. As 'Best Pictures' go "Rain Man" wasn't quite the worst of them but you can't help feeling it trivializes its subject which is played almost entirely for comedy or sentimental value. If it's enjoyable, and in its way it is, it is due entirely to the two principal performances of Dustin Hoffman, (an Oscar for best actor), and Tom Cruise, (no nomination, but thoroughly deserving of one).

They play estranged brothers reunited after the death of their father. Hoffman is an autistic-savant, (definitely qualifying as a handicap; definitely several rungs up the Oscar ladder), whose facility with numbers proves a definite plus when it comes to playing the tables in Las Vegas. (The journey from first meeting to final parting also qualifies this as a road-movie). Cruise is the initially venal younger brother who wants to use Hoffman's 'talents' for his own ends but, this being a Hollywood movie of the inspirational variety, it isn't too long before bonding takes place and at the time Cruise's persona was such that playing a bad guy wasn't really on the cards.

If anyone ever doubted in the early days that Cruise could act all they had to do was to look to this and "The Colour of Money" where he gave his Oscar-winning co-stars as good as he got. The film's director was Barry Levenson, formerly as script-writer who graduated to making his own films with the marvelous "Diner" and whose best films tended towards autobiographical pieces set in his native Baltimore. "Rain Man" represented his attempt at tackling a 'big' subject. It had all the ingredients for popular success and it gave him the Oscar but it's still a bland, formulaic film typical of what the big studios were churning out at the time.

Rain Man is a moving story about two brothers, one a selfish yuppie named Charlie Babbitt who cares only about the importance of money and the other named Raymond who is a autistic and doesn't know anything about the importance of money. Charlie realizes that his father left three million dollars to Raymond and little to him, as he also realizes Raymomd is his brother! Charlie kidnaps Raymond from his residential home and begins a long journey and discovery that will forever change both their lives. Rain Man is a completely moving, emotional, funny, and unforgettable movie. Dustin Hoffman is one of my favorite actors and plays his most memorable role as well as Tom Cruise, who gives a great performance that helped a lot in launching most of his career. The direction by Barry Levinson is stunning and of course, his best yet. Overall, the film is a timeless classic that moves me in every way. This is definitely one of the best films of the 80's and one of my all time favorites. Yea, definitely, definitely, recommend it!

Hedeen's Outlook: 10/10 **** A+

Once again, here's a film I liked a lot on the first viewing, but less and less on subsequent ones and finally calling it quits after the third look. By then, Tom Cruise's character "Charlie Babbitt" was too much to take. It wasn't entertainment to listen and see his profane, arrogant, mean-spirited character. Yeah, he comes around to some decency in the end but it's too little-too late for me.

Dustin Hoffman, of course, gained a lot of recognition for his idiot-savant role of Cruise's brother "Raymond Babbitt." It's tough to root against a mentally- disabled person, even if he's math wizard.

As interesting a story as this is, and as is Hoffman's acting and character, Cruise ruins this film for me. For others who wouldn't be offended, I highly recommend the movie as it's an involving story and Hoffman's performance alone is worth the rental.

I'm not sure this is the most sensitive film about autism possible, as there seems to be a Hollywood glossy sheen coating all of it, but Dustin Hoffman certainly immersed himself into the role, and to its credit, the film avoided some form of miraculous transformation in his character. Unfortunately, the kidnapping that somehow doesn't end up with the police involved, the ridiculous scenes in Las Vegas (why they buy suits, how they win, how politely the head of security asks them to leave, etc), and the idea that Tom Cruise's inexperienced character could care for his brother without drama while driving him across the country has none of the authenticity that Hoffman's acting has. The film wanted to broach a developmental disability but also entertain and appeal to the mass market, and for my taste, erred too much on the side of the latter. The transformation in Cruise's character is too abrupt even though the film is long (probably too long), but it redeems itself somewhat with strong final scenes. Worth watching, but not amazing.

Dustin Hoffman certainly gave a good performance. But I recall one Oscar host who said something like "your chances of winning an Oscar are high if you portray someone with a mental or physical illness" - reference to Rain Man, Philidelphia, Silence of the lambs, Shine..and the list goes on.

The interesting thing is that playing these sorts of characters may not be as difficult as many people think. That's why I have respect for actors such as Jodie Foster and Hillary Swank - they play relatively normal people, but with conviction and realism; and that makes it difficult to take your eyes of them. But I would have thought that playing a Raymond or a Forest Gump type character would be relatively elementary for these actors.

Take away Hoffman, and the often underrated Cruise, and you have a fairly mediocre, long winded and somewhat boring story. To some degree, this is because the film is a bit too pre-occupied with showcasing some of the inadvertent talents of a autistic savvant. But then again, somehow I feel that would have been fine, had the screen-writers ditched the backdrop of a film (Cruise in financial trouble and needs the inheritance money). Worse still, the backdrop made the final 30 minutes extremely predictable (money isn't everything... blood is thicker than water... blah blah blah).

Certainly watchable, but tends to drag on a bit and as mentioned previously too much a predictable background plot that required unnecessary servicing throughout the film.

Tom Cruise stars as a used car salesman, who is angry when his father's inheritance is left to his older autistic brother (Dustin Hoffman), whose existence had not been revealed to him.

The film is built around its two assured central performances. Hoffman gives an excellent portrayal of a man with autism, totally unable to comprehend the real world around him. Cruise is no less impressive. While he is essentially playing to type, his character's attitude changes so gradually throughout the film that you barely notice, and without Cruise's subtle performance this transformation would be much less credible.

This is a highly commendable film, which, despite tackling a tricky subject, refuses to succumb to sentimentality. In giving autism such publicity, the film has hopefully helped to lessen the stigma brought on by ignorance of this condition.

Rain Man's great success is that it shows the way forward for issue driven movies in Hollywood. Its success at the box office demonstrates that taking a risk can pay off in spades, provided that the film is good enough.

I heard a lot about how good this film was, and when I saw it myself I can completely see why. Rain Man is beautifully crafted; funny, moving and startling, sometimes all at once. The cinematography and scenery is beautiful, and the music is effective. The story never loses steam or feels boring, and the script is excellent while Brian Levinson directs absolutely beautifully. The performances from the two leads are brilliant. As fantastic as Dustin Hoffmann is, and he is, his character is one of cinema's greatest triumphs and Hoffmann adeptly is hilarious, unsentimental and completely and utterly believable, that is not to say Tom Cruise should be dismissed, because Cruise is every bit as good as a character whose emotional journey ranges from confused and impatient to understanding and protective. Overall, brilliant film elevated by the two leads and the direction primarily. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This is a very entertaining drama featuring spoiled yuppie Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), whose father left his fortune to his autistic brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). Charlie did not know of Raymond's existence, and at first repulsed by him and him inheriting their father's fortune, he establishes a growing, loving relationship with him during their cross-country journey together.

It was fun and touching seeing Charlie's impatient and condescending attitude improve to mellow and understanding along the way, and all the misadventures he and his brother shared. The spot-on acting and the chemistry between the two character leads make for a good film worthy of its best picture win.

Grade A

I have to say that this is Tom and Dustin's best performances by far. They are such a wonderful duo together. I love seeing how Tom reacts to Dustin's character. Two brothers, one being successful and the other mentally challenged, are finally reunited. They both learn how to live with each other and eventually learn to love each other. As for a best picture, I wasn't too sure. But the actors will impress you. I would recommend this movie to anyone. It has wonderful characters and some great laughs. But also some very touching moments. You really have to like this movie. It's too memorable to miss.

8/10

****

Starring: Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, and Valeria Golina.

An arrogant yuppie discovers that his autistic brother has received all of the inheritance. He must travel across America with his brother to receive his part of the inheritance. He soon learns that some things are worth more than money.

The movie is a fabulous and fantastic film that deserves all the credit it earned. A classic.

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.

The biggest element that makes up this movie is acting. The movie with personal development including connecting to certain person or self-realization is easier for both supplier and demander. Because development is a progress, the audience can see tangible growth of a story, and the screenwriter can follow guideline.

However, what differentiate 'Rain Man' is acting. Autistic Savant was rarely heard of at that time, but Dustin Hoffman's gestures, tones, and look complete Raymond in a very respectable way. Tom Cruise... I am personally not a fan of his acting because I can tell he is trying too hard to 'act'. He overdoes it and never acts natural. However, he is Charlie himself in this movie, vulnerable and lonely & strong and warm-hearted at the same time.

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)

The fact this won Oscars isn't a testament to how good it is - it's a testament to how bad the field was in '88.

The only other good movie made was 'Mississippi Burning' - which I would argue is a far superior film.

It should have took home everything.

Very powerful, especially when compared to Rain Man.

Dafoe and Hackman deserved Oscars, and it should have won best picture.

Even if you like Rain Man - I guarantee you don't watch it all of the time. Lol It probably doesn't help that I'm not a huge Hoffman fan; nor do I enjoy 'award bait slow people movies'.

This movie is technically good - but I'd never classify it as 'entertainment'.

Solid 6.