Rain Man [1989]

See Larger Image	Manufacturer: MGM Entertainment Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen, Jack Murdock Directed By: Barry Levinson Average Customer Rating:


Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Audience Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Binding: DVD EAN: 7321900560412 Format: Dubbed Label: MGM Entertainment Manufacturer: MGM Entertainment Number Of Discs: 1 Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: MGM Entertainment Region Code: 2 Release Date: 2000-02-01 Running Time: 127 Studio: MGM Entertainment Theatrical Release Date: 1988-12-16
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Editorial Reviews: Rain Man is the kind of touching drama that Oscars are made for--and, sure enough, the film took Academy honours for best picture, director, screenplay and actor (Dustin Hoffman) in 1988. Hoffman plays Raymond, an autistic savant whose late father has left him $3 million in a trust. This gets the attention of his materialistic younger brother, a hot-shot LA car dealer named Charlie (Tom Cruise) who wasn't even aware of Raymond's existence until he read his estranged father's will. Charlie picks up Raymond and takes him on a cross-country journey that becomes a voyage of discovery for Charlie, and, perhaps, for Raymond too. Rain Man will either captivate or irritate you (Raymond's sputtering of repetitious phrases is enough to drive anyone crazy), but it is obviously a labour of love for those involved. Hoffman had been attached to the film for many years, as various directors and writers came and went, but his persistence eventually paid off--kind of like Raymond in Las Vegas. Look for director Barry Levinson in a cameo as a psychiatrist near the end of the film. --Jim Emerson, Amazon.com
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Let's talk straight Comment: Dustin Hoffman's performance as the autistic man earns the two stars I've given this film. Otherwise, however, I find it objectionable. It is true that, for reasons still unknown, there are so-called idiots savants, whose disability in one area is balanced out by some splendid capacity in another. In reality, such abilities are extremely rare. Films such as Rain Man tend to propagate the notion that a defect in one area will have some compensation in another. The truth is that Nature's not as nice as that, far from it. And from that comes disappointment in a disabled person's relatives. I am disabled myself - with epilepsy, not autism - and am familiar and/or fluent with several languages, including early Greek. Epilepsy, however, didn't compensate by granting me that fluency. I just happened to have an interest in language from early years, before epilepsy appeared, and spent much of my time working in language - because epilepsy (or rather, people who didn't like epilepsy) prevented me from doing so much else. For safety's sake, I couldn't even ride a bike or learn to drive. That would be both illegal and possibly suicidal. So there's the appearance of a compensating, special ability from nature. It's not: it's the need to find some way of using existing abilities in time I would spend doing other things without disability. I believe I can confidently make this statement for almost all other disabled people. Granted, idiots savants do exist, and no-one knows how or why. But films such as this don't give the true picture: just how rare this characteristic is. Where it does score points, however, is in depicting at least some of the negative side of at least this disability: its sheer nuisance capacity. A truer picture of the general attitude to disability (acquired in this case) is in the outstanding, 'Born on The Fourth of July', a film worth watching by anyone thinking of enlisting, and not least in the present day. That's the reality of the matter, not the cheering, admiring crowds. Customer Rating: Summary: Boo's Cruise Comment: Here again we see Satans felcher Tom Cruise playing a handicapped character looking after unorthodox genius Dustin Hoffman. Hoffman steals the show with his approach to his character's quirky nature, whereas Cruise just fluffs it all up with weak and insensitive portrayal of a shallow and vacous differently special person. Again, what with the subject matter of the film, it is unlikely that Cruise's character will have a death scene owing to the schmaltz factor inherent with these kind of films. Still, if it makes money. Notice the size of Cruise face in relation to the quality of the film? An oscar for Hoffman and yet again no awards for Tom Cruise and his very poor ability to pretend that the situation he is in is real. Story is okay, camera cuts a little bit amateur at times and sound editing is brutal. Generally a good film but ruined Cruise's involvement. Customer Rating: Summary: I Have To Do This Now... Comment: I put off watching this film, having bought it, because I thought that a couple of hours of two brothers crossing the USA (and one of them autistic at that) would be a dreadful bore. The same feelings on the part of film producers meant that Rain Man nearly never got made. I was wrong and so were they. This is a brilliant film. I agree that the very end is a little so-so, but the other two hours or so is gripping, moving and interesting in its exposition (through the superb acting of Dustin Hoffman) of the autistic state or one form of it. Don't be put off. Watch this. Customer Rating: Summary: A must see Comment: My favourite movie. Hoffman is brilliant, Cruise is at his most mature. A brilliant, brilliant movie. Customer Rating: Summary: Wonderful film that served as a catalyst for social change Comment: There are some aspects of the film that didn't click with me. I found Charlie Babbitt's (played by Tom Cruise) transformation from being a selfish yuppie to a caring brother unconvincing. Another criticism I would make is that the makers were trying to give us the wrong impression that Raymond (played by Dustin Hoffman) wasn't really bothered about his brother. This was contradicted when Charlie started running some hot bath water and this brought a horrible memory flooding back about how he scalded his younger brother. Similarly, Raymond seemed to be describing with a certain amount of unhappiness the day when he was taken away and put in an asylum, meaning that the two brothers didn't see each other again until a couple of decades later. However, these few negative points haven't stopped me giving this film 5 stars. This film is surprisingly accurate given that medical understanding of autism spectrum conditions was still very much in its infancy in 1989. Someone with an in-depth understanding of the subject will notice all sorts of things going on, for instance Raymond's sensitivity to noise, his stiff and awkward body language, his monotone voice, his lack of eye contact etc. Many people still aren't aware today that these features often come as part and parcel of an autistic spectrum condition, but it is clear that Dustin Hoffman was so thorough in his research into his character that he picked up on these things. In my view, the greatest thing about this film is that it acted as a catalyst for social change. At the moment, I can't think of any other films that have had a similar effect. Before it came out, people often viewed autism as a shameful thing and people were still daft enough to believe Bruno Bettelheim's refrigerator mother theory (now widely discredited like the MMR-autism link). It's release was very timely, as I had been diagnosed as autistic and was moved outside of the mainstream schooling system at about the time it was released. The producers said on the region 2 extras saying that after its release, some parents had contacted them saying that their children were no longer viewing their autistic siblings as an embarrassment. In light of current understanding of autism spectrum conditions, some people might not say this film is perfect, but I think it is extremely good in light of understanding of the issue at the time and the fact that it was probably the first film about the issue (it was once dealt with in an episode of Charlie's Angels). This film is also good because it speaks to people on different levels. If you don't know much about the subject it deals with, you would simply think it was a tale about brotherly love, whereas if you do, you will spot all sorts of subtle things, like what I mentioned in the second paragraph. More Reviews