Rain Man

Rain Man, American dramatic film, released in 1988 and starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, that was a hit with both critics and audiences and won four Academy Awards, including that for best picture, as well as two Golden Globe Awards, including that for best drama.

In Los Angeles, Charlie Babbit (Cruise), a driven salesman, learns that a shipment of four Lamborghini sports cars, which are to be delivered to the customers to whom he has sold them, are being held up in port because they do not meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emissions standards. Charlie nonetheless heads out for a weekend trip with his coworker and girlfriend, Susanna (Valeria Golino). On the road, he receives a phone call telling him that his estranged father has died in Cincinnati, Ohio. He and Susanna fly there to attend the funeral. He finds that his father has left him only a 1949 Buick Roadmaster (which Charlie had driven without permission when he was 16 years old, an escapade that resulted in his spending two nights in jail and in his estrangement from his father) and some rosebushes and that the rest of the $3 million estate has been bequeathed to an unnamed trustee.

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The trustee proves to be the director of the Walbrook Institute, a facility for the care of the developmentally disabled, and the money is earmarked for the care of Raymond, an elder brother of whose existence Charlie was previously unaware. Charlie and Susanna go to Walbrook to meet both Dr. Bruner (Gerald R. Molen) and Raymond (Hoffman). Raymond is an autistic savant, and Dr. Bruner spends some time explaining Raymond’s abilities and limitations to Charlie. Charlie takes Raymond out of the facility without permission, and the two brothers and Susanna spend the night in a motel room. When Raymond becomes agitated, however, Charlie is angered and speaks harshly to him. Because of this, and because Charlie declares that his plan is to hold on to Raymond until Dr. Bruner agrees to give Charlie half the money in the trust, Susanna leaves Charlie.

Charlie tries to board a plane to Los Angeles with Raymond, but Raymond refuses to fly, so they set out to drive to Los Angeles in the Roadmaster. After Raymond witnesses an accident on the highway, it becomes necessary to use only back roads for the journey. Along the way, Charlie learns to accommodate Raymond’s need for adherence to an invariable routine—such as maintaining strict mealtimes and watching the television shows The People’s Court and Jeopardy every day. He also finds out that when he was a baby, Raymond inadvertently scalded him while trying to give him a bath and that the event resulted in Raymond’s being sent to live at Walbrook. In addition, he learns that his early childhood memories of an imaginary friend called Rain Man were in fact memories of Raymond.

The impoundment of the Lamborghinis has left Charlie in debt, and, after finding that Raymond has heightened abilities of calculation and of recall, Charlie takes Raymond to a casino in Las Vegas, where Raymond counts cards at the blackjack table and thus helps Charlie win enough money to cover his debt. Charlie also reconciles with Susanna in Las Vegas. By the time they reach his home in Los Angeles, Charlie has found that he is more interested in caring for Raymond than in getting the money. He meets with Dr. Bruner and a psychiatrist (played by director Barry Levinson) to determine whether Raymond prefers to remain with Charlie or be cared for at Walbrook, but when it becomes clear that Raymond cannot understand the choice that he is being presented with, Charlie agrees that Raymond should return to Walbrook with Dr. Bruner and promises Raymond that he will visit him in two weeks.

Hoffman was widely praised for the authenticity of his performance, though the movie was blamed for creating a public misperception that a large percentage of autistic individuals were also savants. Rain Man was the first film to win both the Academy Award for best picture and the Berlin International Film Festival’s Golden Bear.

Production notes and credits

• Studios: United Artists, The Guber-Peters Company, Star Partners II Limited, and Mirage Entertainment
• Director: Barry Levinson
• Writers: Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass
• Music: Hans Zimmer

Cast

• Tom Cruise (Charlie Babbit)
• Dustin Hoffman (Raymond Babbit)
• Valeria Golino (Susanna)
• Gerald R. Molen (Dr. Bruner)

Academy Award nominations (* denotes win)

• Picture*
• Lead actor* (Dustin Hoffman)
• Art direction
• Cinematography
• Direction*
• Editing
• Music
• Writing*