Rain Man (1988)

Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt's father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country.

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writers:

Barry Morrow (story), Ronald Bass (screenplay),

Stars:

Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino

Top 250 #235 | Won 4 Oscars. Another 21 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dustin Hoffman	...	Raymond Babbitt
Tom Cruise	...	Charlie Babbitt
Valeria Golino	...	Susanna
Gerald R. Molen	...	Dr. Bruner (as Jerry Molen)
Jack Murdock	...	John Mooney
Michael D. Roberts	...	Vern
Ralph Seymour	...	Lenny
Lucinda Jenney	...	Iris
Bonnie Hunt	...	Sally Dibbs
Kim Robillard	...	Small Town Doctor
Beth Grant	...	Mother at Farm House
Dolan Dougherty	...	Farm House Kid
Marshall Dougherty	...	Farm House Kid
Patrick Dougherty	...	Farm House Kid
John-Michael Dougherty	...	Farm House Kid

Storyline

Charles Sanford "Charlie" Babbit is a self-centered Los Angeles-based automobile dealer/hustler/bookie who is at war with his own life. Charlie, as a young teenager, used his father's 1948 Buick convertible without permission and as a result, he went to jail for two days on account that his father reported it stolen. It is then that Charlie learns that his estranged father died and left him from his last will and testament a huge bed of roses and the car while the remainder will of $3 Million goes into a trust fund to be distributed to someone. Charlie seemed pretty angry by this and decides to look into this matter. It seems as if that "someone" is Raymond, Charlie's unknown brother, an autistic savant who lives in a world of his own, resides at the Walbrook Institute. Charlie then kidnaps Raymond and decides to take him on a lust for life trip to the west coast as a threat to get the $3 Million inheritance. Raymond's acts and nagging, including repeated talks of "Abbott & Costello",...

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Plot Keywords:

savant | convertible | autistic savant | inheritance | autism | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

16 December 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cuando dos hermanos se encuentran

Filming Locations:

Caesars Palace - 3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$172,825,435 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Guber-Peters Company, The, Star Partners II Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the comments written on a preview card that amused Barry Levinson during the film's initial previews was "I was hoping the little guy would snap out of it".

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Goofs

In the blackjack scene when the dealer pays a $4000 winning bet, he is one chip off, thus stealing $100 from Charlie.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Charlie: [on telephone] Now it's five and a half weeks and I'm still sitting on four Lamborghinis that can't meet spot emissions standards. Now, how many times you wash out with EPA?
Lenny: [on a separate line] Uh, yes sir, they're finally, uh, clearing EPA; uh, just one or two more days.
Charlie: Three times? You're really on a roll here, my friend; four cars, three times each - that's zip for twelve. What are you, a... mechanic, or a NASA engineer? Now listen, now, I told you I've never dealt with these ...

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Crazy Credits

Throughout the movie, Raymond is taking pictures. The pictures that he takes are shown as the background for the credits.

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Connections

Referenced in The Shield: Pay in Pain (2002)

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Soundtracks

"Shoes with Wings On"
(1948) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Danced by Fred Astaire
From the film The Barkleys of Broadway

User Reviews

My main man Charlie Babbitt.

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