Rain Man tells the story of two brothers, Charlie and Raymond Babbitt. Charlie (Tom Cruise) is a smug, self-centered car dealer in Los Angeles. Frustrated over some financial difficulties his business is facing, he plans a quick getaway vacation with his girlfriend. That getaway is cut short though when he receives word his estranged father died. While settling his father's estate, he is shocked to discover that a three million dollar inheritance has been placed in a trust fund to an undisclosed beneficiary. Charlie receives only a classic Buick Roadmaster Convertible and a few "prized" rosebushes. Insisting he must know who the beneficiary is, he comes to find out that the inheritance has been placed in the care of a mental facility, which is home to his autistic brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). Charlie, at first, is unaware of the condition of autism and is naturally turned off by Raymond's odd and repetitive, almost ritualistic, behaviors. For example, when he's nervous he goes off on a quiet, fast paced rant reciting the Abbott and Costello routine "Who's on First?" Charlie, without the facility's consent, takes Raymond with him in the hopes it coerces them into giving him half of the inheritance he feels he deserves. While on the road together, Charlie learns more and more of Raymond's condition and when realizing how high functioning he is for an autistic (such as an excellent recall - there's one scene where Raymond flips through a diner's table jukebox and immediately has all the songs and artists memorized) he sees essentially a "get out of a jam quick" fix with his money problems. The solution - using Raymond to count cards at a casino.
It's somewhat unfortunate that the most familiar takeaway moment of the movie to most viewers is the Las Vegas/card counting scenes. It's really a small portion of the film and there's so much more to Rain Man than just that. Before this film, Tom Cruise was mainly known for heartthrob roles in films like The Outsiders, Risky Business, and Top Gun - all good films, mind you. In Rain Man he finally solidified himself as a true dramatic actor capable of holding his own up against a strong veteran presence in Dustin Hoffman (He did do one movie prior to this, Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money with the late, great Paul Newman). It's his role in this film, I believe, that paved his way to three Oscar nominated performances (Born on the Fourth of July, Jerry Maguire, and Magnolia), and strong work in other films such as A Few Good Men, Collateral, Vanilla Sky, and Minority Report. As for Dustin Hoffman, this is by far one of his best performances. There are performances that are good. There are many that are great, and then there are those where the performer disappears into the role. Here Hoffman - who wisely avoids playing it like a heart-string tugging caricature - completely immerses himself into the character of Raymond Babbitt and it's nothing short of brilliant. It's not just a great performance. It's one of the most memorable film roles of all-time. The film's greatest strength though is the relationship between these two brothers. Like I said before, this film is more than just a few card counting scenes that people remember more than others. It's about Cruise's Charlie Babbitt posing a question that we're continually reminded of throughout the film: "Why didn't someone tell me I had a brother?" Through Raymond, Charlie gradually begins to realize that answer as he reflects on his own behavior. In the beginning, Charlie found Raymond's antics irritating and he had no problem letting him know how annoyed he was. He just was in it for his "share of the pie". By the end, though, we get a scene like what I just showed you up above. It's a genuinely moving transformation of character, and the way both Hoffman and Cruise play off each other is pure chemistry at its best. This is a must see, and one of my personal favorites.
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