#232 - Rain Man

Charlie Babbitt and his autistic brother Raymond prepare to conquer Vegas, in "Rain Man".

REVIEW:

Dustin Hoffman took Robert Downey Jr.'s advice from Tropic Thunder and didn't go "full retard" for this film, which ensured that he'd cynically nab a Best Actor Oscar. Forgive me for being flip with Rain Man, but every time I watch it I'm reminded of how much of a product of the 1980s it is, and suffice it to say, that's enough to turn me off. Tom Cruise is actually very good in this film...he's the actor who actually has to react to something, and it is through his character that we take the journey of the film. But what is that journey? Cruise begins the movie as a materialistic jerk with no time or patience for his long lost autistic brother, and while he ends up warming to Hoffman's tics and limitations, the movie has to succumb to the mantra of 80s success by having Hoffman and Cruise kick ass in Vegas by counting cards. The message is simple: be nice to your disabled brother, for you never know when he can bring you millions through his unexpected mathematical gifts. If only real disabilities were so pat. By the end of this two-hour journey I always feel nearly as frustrated as Cruise's character...not because I'm insensitive to autism, but because I'm insensitive to a Method actor's award-baiting interpretation of autism.

MY RATING:

47/100

WOULD IT BE IN MY TOP 250?

Only if the list in question was "most annoying performances to ever win an Academy Award".

WHY IS IT IN THE IMDB'S TOP 250?

I risk sounding like a snob in saying this, but Rain Man really did check all the manipulative boxes on its way to becoming the highest grossing film of 1988 and an unexpectedly beloved film. Through Hoffman's character, the audience was allowed to go along for a crowd-pleasing trek through the world of autism, complete with hilarious misunderstandings (Raymond mimicking the sounds of Charlie and his girlfriend's lovemaking), cool tricks (counting the toothpicks) and every so often just to avoid being accused of being a complete whitewash, a glimpse of the unreachable nature of someone with such a mental disease (like Raymond's pounding of his ear and screeching). Through Cruise, the audience could feel ever-so-slightly superior to Charlie's impatience with his brother, while still seeing a likeable actor rewarded for his evolution by having his brother bail him out of financial difficulties. I can understand why Rain Man might have been a hit at the height of Reaganism, but its enduring popularity baffles me.