Wheeling and dealing salesman Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has passed and bequeathed his three million dollar estate to an unnamed trustee. Enraged, Charlie pries and discovers the money is routed to a mental institution. There, Charlie learns he has an until-then-unknown-to-him brother, Raymond, who has savant syndrome and autism. Charlie kidnaps Raymond under the guise of family reunification and attempts to gain custody of his brother to get control of the money. Charlie find Raymond to be infuriatingly grating but gradually begins to understand Raymond’s routines and their shared past. Charlie begins to feel affection for Raymond and casts aside his selfish aims in an effort to have a relationship with his brother.
I really enjoyed this story. It was a really unique mis-matched, buddy, road trip movie (incidentally just like “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” the week before). I think that Tom Cruise brilliantly portrayed a hate-able prick who we learn to love (as the character grows) and there's no denying that Dustin Hoffman’s performance is committed and iconic. I was also caught off guard by the music—both in that I immediately recognized it but never attributed it and that it’s a pretty causal, easily digestible Hans Zimmer score.
I read that the Autism-community has a complicated relationship with this film. This is because the film both heavily contributed to public awareness and acceptance of Autism spectrum disorders and yet established an inaccurate media stereotype of those on the spectrum. While this portrayal and story premise may feel outdated, I think that “Rain Man” still holds up as a heartfelt story about two brothers.