Rain Man (1988)
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 60
Fresh: 53 | Rotten: 7
This road-trip movie about an autistic savant and his callow brother is far from seamless, but Barry Levinson's direction is impressive, and strong performances from Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman add to its appeal.
Average Rating: 5/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 6
This road-trip movie about an autistic savant and his callow brother is far from seamless, but Barry Levinson's direction is impressive, and strong performances from Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman add to its appeal.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 309,202
Movie Info
Self-centered, avaricious Californian Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is informed that his long-estranged father has died. Expecting at least a portion of the elder Babbitt's $3 million estate, Charlie learns that all he's inherited is his dad's prize roses and a 1949 Buick Roadmaster. Discovering that the $3 million is being held in trust for an unidentified party, Charlie heads to his home town of Cincinnati to ascertain who that party is. It turns out that the beneficiary is Raymond Babbitt
Dec 16, 1988 Wide
Jan 1, 2000
MGM
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Cast
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Dustin Hoffman
Raymond Babbitt -
Tom Cruise
Charlie Babbitt -
Valeria Golino
Susannah -
Jerry Molen
Dr. Bruner -
Jack Murdock
John Mooney -
Michael D. Roberts
Vern -
Ralph Seymour
Lenny -
Lucinda Jenney
Iris -
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Ray Baker
Mr. Kelso -
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Beth Grant
Mother at Farm House -
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Bonnie Hunt
Sally Dibbs -
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Kim Robillard
Small Town Doctor -
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Ralph Tabakin
Shift Boss -
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Barry Levinson
Dr. (uncredited) -
Jocko Marcellino
Las Vegas Crooner -
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Rain Man Trailer & Photos
All Critics (60) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (53) | Rotten (7) | DVD (34)
What no one can argue is that Rain Man is Cruise's quantum leap, so that it can be said unblushingly that he holds his own with the masterly Hoffman.
Top CriticThe strength of the film is really that of Cruise's performance, his finest since Risky Business.
Rain Man's restraint is, finally, rather like Raymond's gabble. It discourages connections, keeping you out instead of drawing you in.
Uneven, slightly off-target.
Valeria Golino is appealing as Cruise's girlfriend; Hoffman makes his character pretty believable without milking the part for pathos and tears, and it's nice to see Cruise working for a change in a context that isn't determined by hard sell and hype.
There is no story, no motor, and given the nature of the premise, nothing much can happen.
Of course, it's annoying. But it's also funny, touching and true, striking chords without ever reducing Raymond to a performing puppy. Definitely.
There's something indelible about Rain Man, and not only to those of us who lived through the time when it was a zeitgeist movie. [Blu-ray]
If you can somehow ignore all this hype... then Rain Man works as a kind of small comedy.
Story about autistic savant isn't for kids.
It's a worthwhile journey in character and scenery...
Delivers plenty of droll humor.
A slick, assured, coming-of-age road movie.
Well written, smartly directed, and sensitively performed.
A sometimes touching, generally pedestrian look at autism.
The film's immense success may be attributed to its messages about family values, or more specifically the rediscovery of love between two brothers, an autistic savant (Dustin Hoffman) and a salesman-hustler (Tom Cruise).
A solid, Oscar-worthy motion picture.
Hoffman is unforgettable, Cruise holds his own well.
Hoffman and Cruise give signature performances in this thoughtful, and hugely enjoyable, classic.
Now as then, it's clear that this was hardly the crowning achievement of its year, yet that's not meant to take away from the film's crowd-pleasing appeal.
Audience Reviews for Rain Man
Super Reviewer
Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is a self-centred car salesman who discovers that his recently deceased father has left his fortune to his older, autistic brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) - that he didn't know he had. In a bid to get his hands on the money, he kidnaps his brother but rather than it turning into a money making scheme, Charlie finds himself bonding with Raymond on their cross-country journey.
On the surface, Rain Man comes off as a film about family ties, responsibilities and an exploration of learning disabilities. This is true to a great extent but essentially it's a road movie with two mismatched characters and actors. Hoffman delivers another masterful performance and one that gained him his second Best Actor Oscar after "Kramer Vs Kramer" in 1979. There's a real sensitivity to his performance, which in turn, brings a lot of humour. The humour can sometimes come across as unintentional but that's all the more credit to Hoffman's abilities. As for Cruise, he's all cocksure arrogance - like most of his performances throughout the 80's - but he's perfectly fitting and delivers one of the more grounded and mature performances of his career. He plays off Hoffman brilliantly and after playing alongside Paul Newman in "The Color Of Money" two years previously, this marked the second time that Cruise held his own against two of the screen greats - the two of them also on Oscar winning form at the time. Behind the camera, Levinson does an admirable job but his main strengths lie in capturing the subtleties of the performances. Anything else other than that is generic filmmaking. That's not to say that it's poor. It far from that, but I wonder whether it was deserving of a Best Director Oscar. Other candidates from that year included Martin Scorsese for "The Last Temptation of Christ" and Alan Parker for "Mississippi Burning". At least two, that could arguably have taken the award. However, this is the type of material that the Academy laps up; it's a difficult subject in highlighting the complexities of autism and although it's one of very few film's to tackle it, it doesn't provide any answers and doesn't probe as well as it should. Maybe the lack of probing is exactly the point? Autistic savants can't be understood and it confirms that through Cruise's frustrated character. Either way, I found that it became a little contrived and formulaic. This is a small gripe though, as the journey that these two go on is filled with humour and pathos and manages to be both touching and emotionally uplifting.
A thoughtful and affecting story that benefits from exemplary performances and great chemistry from the two leads.
Super Reviewer
Movies Like Rain Man
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- Charlie Babbitt: Did you fart?
- Raymond Babbitt: Yes I did.
- Charlie Babbitt: How can you stand that?
- Raymond Babbitt: No I don't mind it.
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- Raymond Babbitt: Kmart sucks.
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- Susannah: Oui, oui, oui!
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- Charlie Babbitt: I just realized I'm not pissed off anymore. My father cut me out of his will. You probably knew he tried to contact me over the years. I never called him back. I was a prick. If he was my son and didn't return my calls, I'd have written him out. But it's not about the money anymore. You know, I just don't understand. Why didn't he tell me I had a brother? Why didn't anyone ever tell me that I had a brother? Because it'd have been nice to know him for more than just the past six days.
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- Raymond Babbitt: C-H-A-R-L-I-E. My main man.
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- Raymond Babbitt: We have pepperoni pizza for dinner Monday nights.
- Susannah: Pizza? You get pizza in an institution?
- Raymond Babbitt: Monday night is Italian night.
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