Rent Rain Man (1988)

Lovely Drama - Rain Man review by GI

Dustin Hoffman had the showy role as an autistic man thrust into the real world by his selfish brother but it's Tom Cruise, as that selfish brother, that takes this film. His performance here shows a depth of emotion that marks him as a significant actor and it's a shame he is overshadowed by the attention given to Hoffman in this film. A road movie drama that has laughs, tears and plenty of heartbreaking bromance vibes to make it a favourite of many to this day. Cruise plays Charlie, a self centred luxury car dealer whose business is on the rocks. He's a fast talking schemer who has oodles of self confidence believing he can get by on his wit and charm. But his world is turned upside down after the death of his estranged father and the discovery that his father's wealth has been left to an older brother Charlie never knew existed. The brother is Raymond (Hoffman) who is an autistic savant, and who lives by a carefully nurtured routine in an institution. Charlie craftily takes Raymond onto the road initially to figure out a way to get half the inheritance but, of course, despite the frustrations that Raymond's condition brings out in Charlie, he inevitably begins to discover aspects of his past through his brother and they bond. It's more a journey of Charlie than Raymond. His close proximity to his very disabled brother helps Charlie find his humanity and reinstatement of the moral compass he lost years ago. It's still a moving film and arguably one of Cruise' best performances before he decided he needed to be the most elderly stuntman in Hollywood!