Day 136 - Rain Man



Day 136          Rain Man [1988]
                          
Screenplay                    Barry Morrow & Ronald Bass
Director                         Barry Levinson
Cinematography            John Seale
Music                            Hans Zimmer
Leads                            Tom Cruise, Dustin Hoffman, Valeria Golino
Production                     United Artists, Star Partners II Ltd., Barris Industrise, Guber-Peters Company

IMDb                                 8/10
Rotten Tomatoes                89%

Tom Cruise is adept at playing an asshole. That smarmy, too handsome for his own good crazy attitude that makes him such a good actor for certain roles. Goddamn it that man knows how to wear a pair of Ray-Bans. I just wanted to give Cruise a shout-out because everyone knows it is Hoffman who steals the show in this one.  Cruise plays Charlie, an auto dealer who returns home after the death of his estranged father. He learns that most of his inheritance has been left to a trustee which, in turn, results in the discovery that he has an older brother, Raymond (Hoffman) who suffers from autism and Savant syndrome – meaning he is socially awkward and yet has a photographic mind and his brilliant with numbers. Hoffman gives a performance Tugg Speedman would have been proud of – ‘never go full retard’. In all seriousness though I do find it impressive when actors play characters with disabilities, it gives us performances such as DiCaprio’s in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and Daniel Day-Lewis’ in My Left Foot. These actors take great risks in portraying such characters but what consequences we get when they get it right. I found myself frustrated for large periods of the film both at Charlie and Raymond. Charlie because of his lack of empathy towards his ill, long-lost brother, but I also felt his frustration at Raymond at times, the repetition alone is enough to drive anyone crazy. Testament to both actors that they managed to render these feelings. Do I even need to talk about the music? Just read who was in charge... There are some beautiful ‘big-sky’ shots, as I like to call them, as Charlie and Raymond travel through the USA. You have to get those right in road-trip movies and Seale nailed it. He, Levinson and Zimmer also managed to convey how Hoffman’s mind worked with camera tricks and sounds – perhaps the most subtly impressive thing of all. You’ve got to see it if you haven’t already. Even if it’s just so you understand the Hangover reference.

Acting                              4 / 4
Writing                          3.5 / 4
Cinematography            3.5 / 4
Music                            3.5 / 4
HWF rating               3.5 / 4

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