Yesterday, I watched the movie Rain Man for the first time. I had been wanting to see it for a long time and I finally did. Although I had a rough idea of what it was about, I didn’t know exactly what I’d find. After I give an overview of the story that contains plenty of spoilers and some background information on the movie, I’ll share more of my own thoughts on it.
Charlie Babbitt (played by Tom Cruise) has a car business that’s on the brink of failure when he finds out that his father has died. Charlie, who was estranged from his father, is upset to find out that he is only getting a fraction of his father’s estate as most of it has been placed into a trust for a mental institution. When he goes to the mental institution in question, he finds out that he has an older brother named Raymond (played by Dustin Hoffman) who lives there. Shocked at this discovery, Charlie spends some time talking to his brother and learns that he is an autistic savant and adheres to strict routines to comfort himself and get through the day. Charlie decides to take Raymond with him to Los Angeles in the hopes of using him to get more of his inheritance.
Because Raymond doesn’t want to fly, the two set out on a road trip from Cincinnati to Los Angeles. Charlie, who started out being hostile to Raymond, slowly warms up to his brother as he gets to know him better. One of the big turning points in their relationship occurs when they’re spending the night in a motel in Texas. Charlie learns that, due to their age difference, he thought Raymond was his imaginary friend who sang to Charlie to comfort him when he was a little kid; he called him “Rain Man” because he couldn’t pronounce “Raymond” back then.
When they stop off in Las Vegas, Charlie is devastated to learn that his business has suffered several crushing blows. He then gets an idea for how to pay off his debts. Since Raymond has an incredible memory and is excellent with numbers, the two of them head to a casino to play blackjack. Thanks to Raymond’s ability to count cards, they win more than enough money to cover Charlie’s losses before being asked to leave by the casino security. After that, the brothers go to a meeting with two doctors, one of whom is from the mental institution, to see whether Raymond would rather live there or with Charlie. When the doctors leave the room, Charlie expresses his love for Raymond and says he wants what’s best for him. The movie ends with Raymond going back to live in the mental institution and Charlie saying that he’ll visit him regularly.
Barry Morrow wrote Rain Man after meeting Kim Peek, a prodigious savant who dealt with crippling social anxiety for much of his life. Morrow based the character of Raymond on Peek as well as a friend of his named Bill Sackter. In addition to bringing more attention to autism, the movie also changed Peek’s life for the better. The many public appearances he made after the release of Rain Man increased his confidence and allowed him to blossom and enjoy his life much more than he did before.
I thoroughly enjoyed Rain Man. I have plenty of experience being misunderstood and pushed around by other people, so Raymond was my favorite character since I could relate more to him than anyone else. Although I initially disliked Charlie for how aggressive he was toward Raymond, I appreciated that he warmed up to him over time and was treating him much better by the end of the story. I also liked that the movie ended with both main characters in good places, both in their own lives and in their relationship with each other. And I felt that the dynamic between the two of them played out very naturally and realistically. This was due in large part to the acting talents of Cruise and Hoffman, although they also had some great writing to guide their performances. If you haven’t seen Rain Man, I recommend watching it when you can. It’s a great movie that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.