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RAIN MAN (REVIEW)

by MaryAnn Johanson
Fri, Mar 12, 1999
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Emotional Rescue

Barry Levinson’s Rain Man was so seminal a film that its title character’s
nickname and dialogue have entered the vernacular — we’ve all said “Kmart sucks”
and “I’m an excellent driver” once or twice, right? Beneath the film’s gentle
odd-couple comedy and astonishingly affecting performance by Dustin Hoffman as
the autistic savant Raymond Babbitt, however, is a sharp drama about
emotionality, frustration, and the capacity we all have for surprising ourselves
by changing.

Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is the classic 80s shark: cold, all business,
seemingly without a care for anyone but himself. When his wealthy, estranged
father dies and leaves him only an insulting token — a 1949 Buick Roadmaster
that was the cause of their estrangement — Charlie discovers that the $3 million
estate has been left in trust for a brother, Raymond, he never knew he had.
Determined to get “his half” of the money, Charlie steals Ray from the
institution that is his home in Cincinnati, planning to take him back to
Charlie’s home in LA and fight for custody of Ray. Ray refuses to fly — “airline
travel’s very dangerous” — so they hit the road in the Roadmaster.

The week-long trip is an exercise in frustration for Charlie. Ray is a mass of
idiosyncratic routines and nervous habits — he won’t go out in the rain; he
recites “Who’s on first?” when he’s upset — that incense Charlie. “Stop acting
like an idiot,” Charlie tells Ray. But Charlie starts to feel a connection to
Ray when he realizes that he’s the “Rain Man” of his vague childhood memory,
reconnecting Charlie with a family he lost long before. Yet when Charlie tries
to express this new closeness by hugging Ray, Ray starts screaming — he doesn’t
like to be touched, and he’s incapable of understanding or sharing in his
brother’s feeling. Nothing affects Ray emotionally, or at least not in the same
way it does Charlie or any of the rest of us.

And the ironic thing is, it’s because of Raymond that Charlie learns to open up
and connect with other human beings. Charlie’s relationship with Ray mirrors the
relationship Charlie has with his patient girlfriend, Susanna (Valeria Golino).
When Charlie continues to fail to really communicate with Ray, he yells at his
brother: “You can’t tell me you’re not in there somewhere!”, echoing Susanna’s
earlier complaint that she feels like she’s alone when she’s with Charlie.
Charlie tries to reach out to Ray and gets nothing in return, just as Susanna
failed with Charlie.

Ray’s isolation may not be by choice, but Charlie’s was, though he probably
didn’t realize it. “You use people — you’re using Raymond” to get his
inheritance, Susanna accuses Charlie. But by the end of the movie, Charlie seems
a bit overwhelmed to discover that “it’s not about the money anymore.” Instead,
Charlie wants to know, “Why didn’t anyone tell me I had a brother? It’d’ve been
nice to know him for more than just the past six days.”

Raymond may be a hard character to identify with, but Charlie isn’t. The ability
to be kind, patient, and accepting that the younger Babbitt learns could
probably use some sharpening in all of us.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oscars Best Picture 1988
unforgettable movie moment:
Charlie teaches Ray to dance in front of a huge window in a casino’s
high-roller’s suite overlooking the Vegas strip. “I don’t know about you,”
Charlie says, “but I’m starting to feel a little silly.”

previous Best Picture:
1987: The Last Emperor
next Best Picture:
1989: Driving Miss Daisy

go> the complete list of Oscar-winning Best Pictures

Categories classics, dramedy, on the road, Oscar best pictures, reviews Tags
Barry Levinson, Buick, Dustin Hoffman, Kmart, Oscars, Rain Man, Tom Cruise,
Valeria Golino

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Rain Man (1988)
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US/Can release: Dec 16 1988
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MPAA: rated R
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