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Rain Man (1988)

tomatometer

88

Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 57
Fresh: 50 | 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.

29

Average Rating: 4.5/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 5

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.

audience

88

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 281,052

My Rating

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

R, 2 hr. 8 min.

Drama

Ron Bass, Barry Morrow

Jan 1, 2000

MGM

All Critics (57) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (56) | Rotten (7) | DVD (33)

Rain Man's restraint is, finally, rather like Raymond's gabble. It discourages connections, keeping you out instead of drawing you in.

December 21, 2008 Full Review Source: TIME Magazine | Comments (2)
TIME Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Uneven, slightly off-target.

February 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment (1)
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

February 5, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Its end effect depends largely on one's susceptibility to the sight of an actor acting nonstop and extremely well, but to no particularly urgent dramatic purpose.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comments (2)
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Rain Man is so fascinating because it refuses to supply those questions with sentimental but unrealistic answers.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Neither Levinson nor Hoffman was able to penetrate the mystery of their subject.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment (1)
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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]

March 30, 2011 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | Comment

If you can somehow ignore all this hype... then Rain Man works as a kind of small comedy.

March 11, 2011 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid

Story about autistic savant isn't for kids.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment
Common Sense Media

It's a worthwhile journey in character and scenery...

February 16, 2009 Full Review Source: Screen It! | Comment
Screen It!

Hoffman and Cruise give signature performances in this thoughtful, and hugely enjoyable, classic.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | Comment
Empire Magazine

Delivers plenty of droll humor.

March 12, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | Comment
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A slick, assured, coming-of-age road movie.

February 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Well written, smartly directed, and sensitively performed.

February 5, 2007 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A sometimes touching, generally pedestrian look at autism.

January 4, 2007 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy | Comment (1)
Oscar Guy

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).

July 28, 2006 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

There is no story, no motor, and given the nature of the premise, nothing much can happen.

February 9, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comments (2)
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Rain Man

It's the king of all crowd pleasers. The simple and intriguing premise of the film came off brilliantly. Hoffman and Cruise (with a much under rated performance) are fantastic together showing excellent chemistry. Rain Man shows us everyday situations from a sufferer of autism's perspective truthfully yet touchingly.

January 6, 2012
Michael M.
Michael Miller

Super Reviewer

"Uh oh..." - just one of the many memorable lines from this instant classic that I just couldn't stop refering to every 5 seconds after watching the film. It blew me away! Rain Man tells the story of the rather bossy man Charlie Babbit, who found out that his father has died and he was given a car and some rose

September 13, 2011
BG Movie Reviews
BG Movie Reviews 2011

Super Reviewer

    1. Raymond Babbitt: C-H-A-R-L-I-E. My main man.
    – Submitted by Raj G (5 days ago)
    1. Raymond Babbitt: We have pepperoni pizza for dinner Monday nights.
    2. Susannah: Pizza? You get pizza in an institution?
    3. Raymond Babbitt: Monday night is Italian night.
    – Submitted by Raj G (5 days ago)
    1. Charlie Babbitt: I'm gonna go take a celebration piss.
    – Submitted by Raj G (5 days ago)
    1. Charlie Babbitt: Of course you can't have pancakes without maple syrup.
    – Submitted by Raj G (5 days ago)
    1. Raymond Babbitt: K-mart sucks.
    – Submitted by Raj G (5 days ago)

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