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

Won 4 Oscars. Another 22 wins & 22 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 1949 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:

road movie | selfishness | tearjerker | savant | convertible | 

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Taglines:

A journey through understanding and fellowship.

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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:

Rain Man

Filming Locations:

The Dixie Terminal, Fourth and Walnut Streets, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,005,719, 18 December 1988

Gross USA:

$172,825,435

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$354,825,435

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

133 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The highest-grossing movie of 1988.

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Goofs

At Charlie's house, Raymond opens the freezer door to get some frozen waffles, then goes to the toaster oven and turns it on despite the fact that he did not put anything in it. Yet, a mere 30 seconds later, smoke is coming out and sets off the smoke detector, not nearly enough time to burn anything, let alone even warm up.

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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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Alternate Versions

Most airline versions of the film completely cut out the discussion of crash statistics. The reference to Qantas being the only international airline to have a perfect service record was deleted from the in-flight version of the movie by all international airlines except for Qantas.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Dances with Wolves/Graffiti Bridge/The Kray's/The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

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Soundtracks

They Can't Take That Away from Me
(1937) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Sung by Fred Astaire
From the film The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)

User Reviews

Best acting performance I have ever seen

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.