Rain Man is a 1988 American road comedy-drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive and selfish wheeler-dealer Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father Sanford has died and bequeathed his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), an autistic savant of whose existence Charlie was unaware. Morrow created the character of Raymond after meeting real-life savant Kim Peek; his characterization was based on both Peek and Bill Sackter, a good friend of Morrow who was the subject of Bill, an earlier film that Morrow wrote.Barry Morrow's audio commentary for Rain Man from the DVD release.
Rain Man competed at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the highest prize: the Golden Bear. The film was released theatrically by MGM/UA Communications Co. under the United Artists label in the United States on December 16, 1988, to critical and commercial success. Praise was given to Levinson's direction, the performances (particularly Cruise and Hoffman), the screenplay, the musical score, the cinematography and the film's portrayal of autism. The film grossed US$354–$429million on a $25 million budget, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1988, and received a leading eight nominations at the 61st Academy Awards, winning four: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (for Hoffman) and Best Original Screenplay.
Plot
Charlie Babbitt is an arrogant collectibles dealer in the middle of importing four grey market Lamborghinis to Los Angeles for resale. He needs to deliver the cars to impatient buyers who have already made down payments to repay the loan he took out to buy them, but the EPA is holding the cars at the port because they have failed emission tests. Charlie directs his employee Lenny to lie to the buyers while he stalls his creditor Wyatt.
When Charlie learns that his estranged father Sanford Babbitt has died, he and his girlfriend Susanna travel to Cincinnati to settle the estate. He inherits only a group of rosebushes and a classic 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible over which he and Sanford had clashed, while the remainder of the $3 million estate is going to an unnamed trustee. He learns that the money is being directed to a local mental institution, where he meets his elder brother Raymond, of whom he was unaware.
Raymond is an autistic savant and follows strict routines. He has superb recall, but he shows little emotional expression, except when in distress. Charlie spirits Raymond out of the mental institution and into a hotel for the night. Disheartened with the way Charlie treats Raymond, Susanna leaves him. Charlie asks Raymond's doctor, Dr. Gerald Bruner, for half the estate in exchange for Raymond's return but Dr. Bruner refuses. Charlie decides to attempt to gain custody of Raymond to get control of the money.
After Raymond refuses to fly to Los Angeles, he and Charlie resort to driving there instead. They make slow progress because Raymond insists on following his routines, which include watching The People's Court on television every day, getting to bed by 11:00 p.m. and refusing to travel when it rains. He also objects to traveling on the Interstate after they encounter a car accident.
During the course of the journey, Charlie learns more about Raymond, including his ability to instantly perform complex calculations and count hundreds of objects at once, far beyond the typical range of human abilities. He also realizes that Raymond had lived with the family as a child and was the "Rain Man" (Charlie's infantile pronunciation of "Raymond"), a comforting figure Charlie had remembered as an imaginary friend. Raymond had saved an infant Charlie from being scalded by hot bathwater one day, but Sanford blamed Raymond for nearly injuring Charlie and committed him to the institution, as he was unable to speak up for himself and correct the misunderstanding.
Wyatt repossesses the Lamborghinis, forcing Charlie to refund his buyers' down payments and leaving him deeply in debt. Having passed Las Vegas, he and Raymond return to Caesars Palace and devise a plan to win the needed money by playing blackjack and counting cards with Raymond's abilities. Although the casino bosses obtain videotape evidence of the scheme and ask them to leave, Charlie successfully wins $86,000 to cover his debts. He also reconciles with Susanna, who has rejoined the brothers in Las Vegas.
Returning to Los Angeles, Charlie meets with Dr. Bruner, who offers him $250,000 to walk away from Raymond. Charlie refuses, saying he is no longer upset about being cut out of Sanford's will but he wants to have a relationship with Raymond. At a meeting with court-appointed psychiatrist Dr. Marston, Raymond proves to be unable to decide for himself what he wants. Charlie stops the questioning and tells Raymond he is happy to have him as his brother. As Raymond and Dr. Bruner board a train to return to the institution, Charlie promises to visit in two weeks.
Cast
Dustin Hoffman as Raymond Babbitt Tom Cruise as Charlie Babbitt Valeria Golino as Susanna Jerry Molen as Dr. Gerald Bruner Jack Murdock as John Mooney Michael D. Roberts as Vern Ralph Seymour as Lenny Lucinda Jenney as Iris Bonnie Hunt as Sally Dibbs Kim Robillard as Small Town Doctor Beth Grant as Farmhouse Mother Bob Heckel as Sheriff Deputy Ray Baker as Mr. Kelso Jocko Marcellino as Crooner Jake Hoffman as Pancake Boy Barry Levinson as Dr. Marston (uncredited)
Production Development
In drafting the story for Rain Man, Barry Morrow decided to base Raymond Babbitt on his experiences with both Kim Peek and Bill Sackter, two men who had gained notoriety and fame for their intellectual disabilities and, in Peek's case, for his abilities as a savant that were evident in high speed reading and extremely detailed memory. Prior to the conception of Rain Man, Morrow had formed a friendship with the intellectually disabled Sackter, and, in doing so, ended up taking some situational aspects from his friendship and using them to help craft the relationship between Charlie and Raymond.
Following the success of Bill, the made-for-TV movie he had written about Sackter, Morrow met Peek and was wildly intrigued by his savant syndrome. Going into the creation of the film, Morrow was still essentially unaware of the intricacies of the condition, as well as of autism itself; instead deciding that the movie was less about Raymond's intellectual disability, and more about the relationship formed between Raymond and Charlie. Roger Birnbaum was the first studio executive to give the film a green light; he did so immediately after Morrow pitched the story. Birnbaum received "special thanks" in the film's credits.
Real-life brothers Dennis and Randy Quaid were considered for the roles of Raymond and Charlie. Agents at Creative Artists Agency sent the script to Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray, envisioning Murray in the title role and Hoffman in the role eventually portrayed by Tom Cruise. Martin Brest, Steven Spielberg and Sydney Pollack were directors also involved in the film.Bass' audio commentary for Rain Man from the DVD release. Spielberg was attached to the film for five months until he left to direct Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and would later regret the decision. Mickey Rourke was also offered a role, but he turned it down. Mel Gibson was also offered the role of Raymond, but he turned it down also.
For a year prior to playing Raymond, Hoffman prepared to portray Raymond's autism by seeking out and educating himself on other autistic people, particularly those with savant syndrome. Hoffman had some experience with disabled individuals prior to filming, having worked at the New York Psychiatric Institute when he was younger. Inspiration for the portrayal of Raymond's mannerisms was drawn from a multitude of sources but he thanked three men in his Academy Award acceptance speech. One was Peter Guthrie, the autistic brother of Kevin Guthrie, a Princeton football player with whom Hoffman was in touch at the time. Another was autistic savant Joseph Sullivan, who was the subject of the documentary films Infantile Autism: The Invisible Wall (1968) and Portrait of an Autistic Young Man (1986), and whose mother, Dr. Ruth Sullivan, was the founding president of the Autism Society of America and served as a consultant on the film. The third was savant Kim Peek, with whom Hoffman met as part of his research of the role, wherein he would observe and mimic Peek's actions, attempting to give an accurate portrayal of what an individual with savant syndrome might act like. His mimicry of Peek's savant syndrome was deemed a poor fit for the character by Hoffman, resulting in Hoffman's decision to make Babbitt not only a man with savant syndrome but also with autism.
Filming Principal photography included nine weeks of filming on location in Cincinnati and throughout Northern Kentucky. Other portions were shot in the desert near Palm Springs, California. (here for Table of Contents ) There was originally a different ending to the movie drafted by Morrow that differed from Raymond's going back to the institution. Morrow ultimately decided to drop this ending in favor of Raymond's returning to the institution, as he felt the original ending would not have stuck with the viewers as effectively as the revised ending did. Almost all of the principal photography occurred during the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike; one key scene that was affected by the lack of writers was the film's final scene. Bass delivered his last draft of the script only hours before the strike started and spent no time on the set.
Music The original motion picture soundtrack of Rain Man was composed by Hans Zimmer and was nominated for Best Original Score at the 61st Academy Awards.
Release The film had its premiere on December 12, 1988 at Loew's Astor Plaza in New York City and opened in the United States on December 16, 1988. Reception Box office
Rain Man was the second highest-grossing film in its opening weekend box office (behind Twins), with $7million. It reached the first spot the weekend of December 30 – January 2, finishing 1988 with $42million. The film became the highest-grossing U.S. film of 1988 by earning more than $172million. Worldwide figures vary: Box Office Mojo stated that the film grossed over $354million, The Numbers stated $413million, and Variety stated $429million.
Critical response On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Rain Man holds an approval rating of 88%, based on 136 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The website's critical consensus states: "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." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 65 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A", on a scale of A+ to F.