Number 319 on the top 1000 films of all time is the 1988 road, comedy-drama Rain Man.
Charlie Babbit (Tom Cruise) is a spoiled and selfish wheeler and dealer in Los Angeles. When his wealthy father dies, he is disappointed to learn that he has been virtually cut out of his will in favour of an anonymous benefactor who will be inheriting his father's $3 million estate. Little does Charlie realises that this benefactor is his autistic savant brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) who Charlie didn't even know exist.
Rain Man is a highly-regarded film. It won Best Film, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actor (for Hoffman) at the 61st Academy awards. While it was good, I don't think it was Oscar-worthy. It was competing against the likes of Mississippi Burning for Best Film and Actor (Gene Hackman) but I'd argue Mississippi Burning was better.
Let's talk about Tom Cruise first. Although he was good as Charlie, he wasn't incredible. Charlie was a jerk and it was obvious that he would go through a redemption arc as he spent more time with Raymond, but Cruise didn't sell me on this transformation. It was a shame as he is a fine dramatic actor. I just wish he took these roles more often rather than the big action hero.
While Hoffman was very good as Raymond, I'm not sure he deserved the Oscar. It was a convincing representation of autism, all thanks to Hoffman preparing for the role by spending time with the autistic community, but it still felt quite surface-level. There wasn't the depth I was expecting. We see glimpses of Raymond's humanity beneath his neurodiversity, but not the whole picture. I can't think of a standout scene where Hoffman earned his Oscar.
If anything I preferred Valeria Golino who played Charlie's girlfriend Susanna. She was fast to call out Charlie on how he is using Raymond for his money which is in sharp contrast to how she genuinely cares for him. She later leaves Charlie before reconciling with him, which was rather contrived.
All in all, Rain Man was a good film. But not a great film and certainly not Oscar-worthy.
I think it is a great film. I particularly like the transformation of Charlie. Quite uplifting. I recognise that Hoffman is a method actor, but I think he deserved his Oscar. He put so much work into the part
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