Rain Man 1988, Rated R

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Starring Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, et al.

Hard-hearted wheeler-dealer Charlie Babbitt, played by Tom Cruise, attends his father's funeral in hopes that his inheritance will bail him out of financial trouble. He learns that he only is to receive rosebushes and a car, while a mystery person gets $3 million. A little investigating reveals the mystery person to be Cruise's brother Raymond, portrayed by Dustin Hoffman, a high-functioning autistic savant who has been hidden from Cruise for years. To gain leverage in negotiations over the estate, Cruise kidnaps Hoffman, the two traveling cross-country by car, driving each other crazy because of their mutual inability to connect with one another.

Much has been made of the performance by Hoffman, for which he received an Oscar and endless imitation. It's hard to argue with the praise; Hoffman is comfortable and believable with every single detail of his performance. However, the real key to this film is Cruise. He is not autistic, but is as emotionally withdrawn and unable to feel as Hoffman. Cruise and Hoffman draw each other out through their adventures on the road, but the beauty of it is that they don't fully draw each other out. There are no miracle cures for their mutual autism here, just a connection.

The genius of Rain Man though is the comedy. The dialogue between Cruise and Hoffman absolutely sparkles, as they talk past one another, and babble on ignoring the other person. Some of the laughs are straight forward, regarding The People's Court Cruise says, "They're making legal history in there, Ray! LEGAL HISTORY!" but the best lines are those that are muttered quietly, or spoken away from the action.

Director Barry Levinson shows a deft touch with the camera. Sure, anyone can make a classic car driving through the southwest look great, but the use of a hand-held camera every time Cruise or Hoffman has an emotional attack helps create a very realistic feeling of panic. With the addition of a terrific soundtrack, including the hit Iko Iko, Levinson was able to produce stunning scene after stunning scene. I watched the scene with Cruise and Hoffman riding down a casino escalator and found myself rewinding the film to watch that particular scene again and again. The combination of the motion, with the captivating camera angle and music is Levinson at his best, Sphere notwithstanding.

One of the best features of Rain Man is its attention to detail. The defining characteristic of autism is an inability to filter out important information from any given whole; thus Hoffman is constantly bringing up tiny details from earlier in the film, that provide for some of the more humorous moments in the film. Another nice touch was the decision to include the blurry photographs that Hoffman takes throughout the movie with his Instamatic camera during the credits.

In short, Rain Man is one film that truly can be called a 'modern classic' and should not be missed for any reason, up to and including death--relax, it's not like I'm steering you toward The English Patient, or some equally boring art film. Rain Man is a masterpiece that will give you more each time you view it. It's movies like these that make me want to find the inventor of the VCR and kiss him full on the lips.