I’m very late on this, 35 years late to be exact, but I think Rain Man may be one of the best movies ever, here’s why.

Rain Man came out in 1988 and starred Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman as a pair of brothers separated at a young age who come together after their father’s death. Usually, I wouldn’t love this type of movie, wouldn’t even turn it on, but something was drawing me to this movie that I’d only ever heard of in the periphery.

         They start the scene with Tom Cruise trying to sell a bunch of Lamborghinis to clients over the phone, a perfect opening. What’s colder than Lamborghini’s and sales calls? Basically nothing. It tells us that Tom Cruise doesn’t have feelings, he’s a stone of a man, addicted to money and void of any real emotion. He even put his girlfriend to work for him as a secretary, not as a saleswoman. He’s got nothing going on inside. Then he gets the call that his father’s dead, again, nothing, seemed like he didn’t even want to go to the funeral. Director Barry Levinson is excellent at showing and not telling throughout this movie, that’s what shined throughout this whole movie for me.  

As we meet Raymond, we somewhat get the same feel. That he’s cold, not able to show affection either due to his disability or due to his upbringing, it’s hard to really know. The movie tends to lean it toward the disability, but something tells me these boys’ father wasn’t exactly father of the year.

Tom Cruise’s mission for his father’s money is somewhat a metaphor for the real thing he is missing in his life, and that is emotions. He finds his treasure through his ride with Raymond. Every emotion is felt: anger, sorrow, joy, excitement, and by the end, love. I will preface this by saying I really don’t like Tom Cruise in any movies, and I don’t particularly like him in this one, but he does what needs to be done and plays so well with Dustin Hoffman, who absolutely lit the silver screen on fire en route to an Oscar. I mean his acting through this whole movie is just insanely good, most of the movie I had to keep reminding myself that Dustin Hoffman doesn’t actually have a disability, remember, Michael, this guy is the guy from Meet the Fockers.

Favorite scenes:

• Casino scene – I mean any casino scene is great, but using your special needs brother to count cards is genius. It shows how valuable Raymond can be and how genius he truly is. It grows Tom Cruise’s love for Raymond, not because he won him money, but because he realizes he’s in the presence of someone truly amazing. Levinson did a great job in this scene, it almost feels like a completely different movie, the bright lights (For Hoffman is a bright light in Cruise’s life), the chips stacking, the cards, the subtle conversation they have. It’s all just fantastic.
• The kiss in the elevator with Susanna – Susanna is kind of a side character in this movie, coming and going with Tom Cruise, always by his side but leaves to keep the drama going, but in her shining moment everything went right. She dances with Raymond and eventually kisses him, probably for his only romantic or, even, affectionate moment of his life. This kiss demonstrates two things to me: 1. She cares for Raymond greatly and wants to help him in the tough life he leads. 2. She loves Tom Cruise so much that this isn’t even weird, she helps Tom Cruise by helping his brother. This scene would almost always be weird in any other movie, but with Raymond and his condition, it is truly the sweetest part in a movie that I’ve seen in a long time.
• In one of the last scenes, after Tom Cruise realizes Hoffman will be going away for a while the two characters gently touch heads and say nothing for a moment. This scene is like a deep breath for the whole audience. FINALLY, this tough, hardball guy, shows his affection. His exterior shell has been broken down by his brother and he is whole. Even though he is losing his brother for the moment, he has been made so much better of a man and has gained so many skills from his brother. In the beginning, Cruise questions the doctor as to why no one ever told him about his brother. What I think it was, was he wouldn’t have been ready for that moment. He was drawn to his brother when the timing was right, and it worked perfectly.

I did truly love this movie, I even forgot to mention it had Hans Zimmer (The guy who did the Dark Knight and many more) as the music coordinator and composer. It’s not a tale about a lost fortune or a rich stuck-up guy, it’s about finding your brother and holding them close. They’re your blood and they should mean more than anything else in the world. Maybe I love this movie because I have two brothers of my own, but I think anyone who is searching for more from life can love it too.