Raining Emotions. Review on Rain Man Movie

Rainman (1988)

Now then, there are some stories which touch that sensitive side of your heart where you feel, a bit guilty perhaps, a selfish, and then perhaps you feel, you have been too much focussed with the material pleasure of your life perhaps.

Rainman touches that side of your heart.

The story of the film: In Rain Main, Charlie Babbage(Tom Cruise) discovers he has a brother Raymond (Dustin Huffman). At first Charlie sees Raymond as an obstacle to inheriting his father's fortune but with time learns to love Raymond his mentally challenged savant brother.

Now, the film is apparently situational. Situations which shows how both the characters react to each other. Raymond suffers from a disease called Autism. One of the characteristics of autism is an impairment in social interaction in social situations and communication. Raymond was autistic, but he was very high functioning in some areas.

Raymond spoke clearly, but then many times he would say, “ I don’t know”.

While he is carrying a conversation, suddenly the next comment may have nothing to do with the conversation he was having.

Raymond had difficulty in social situations that were unusual or unknown to him. For example, they had to travel by car on secondary roads because Raymond was afraid of planes, trains, and freeways. He knew all the safety statistics of each.

Raymond will not go outside when it rains because he is afraid he will get wet. He cannot understand that taking a shower and going out in the rain are nearly the same.

Raymond's main activity was watching certain shows on television. He would tell how many minutes until a show he want to watch would come on. For example he would say, ''Eleven minutes till Jeopardy'' or ''Three minutes till Wapner.'' He felt he had to watch certain shows no matter where they happened to be.

Raymond also repeated what he has heard. Every time Raymond got nervous or found himself in a strange place, he would recite ''Who's on first?'' from an Abott and Costillo show. He was talking only to himself.

He was very high functioning in mathematical calculations doing difficult multiplication and square root problems in his head. However, at the same time, he did not comprehend the concept of money. He said that a candy bar and a car would each cost, ''a hundred bucks.''

He hated jeopardizing his daily routine. So he positioned his bed in the same place bedtime, what he should eat for each meal each day of the week, where his bed should be located in a room, and what clothes he should wear each day. He knew Charlie's clothes were not his. He would not wear anything that belonged to Charlie because his clothes had his name on them. When Charlie suggested buying something new, Raymond always answered,''K-Mart on Oak Street,'' which was located in Cincinnati.

And Charlie, who always felt he was wronged by his father, who not only was rude to him, and did not leave any money for him but also hid that he has a brother in Raymond. He was smart, but then, he was going through a rough patch in his car-business, and then he has to tackle his “retarded” brother.

But then, Charlie in this six day stint develop an unusual bond with his brother, whom he reasoned as the major cause of his ill-luck. This bond grows when he finds out actually Raymond is a genius, of sorts but of a very unusual kind. The scene when Charlie after winning big-bucks at a Casino thanks to Raymond teaches him to dance and then wants to hug him is superb.

Or say, when they share a old childhood moment in the toilet when Charlie learns it was Raymond who was with him, when their mother died. Then the last breakfast scene, or Charlie breaks literally into tears when he feels he is losing his brother’s custody.

For the first time, Charlie understands there is more to just materialistic pleasures in life- it is family, it is emotions.

Dustin Hoffman is nothing short of brilliant in the film. He is funny in the odd sense, and he is just about perfect in every act in portrayal of Raymond. His walking style, he saying I don’t know, or repeating same things again and again, or looking at the aeroplanes from the window, his first date, his two scenes of smiling, are all marvelous. He is brilliant in saying, “ I am an excellent driver”.

Tom Cruise is style personified.

Simply a brilliant film, which touches one’s heart. If you don’t watch it and feel for it, you would surely miss something worthwhile.

Emotions are precious, and they hit you without any reason. Loving a mentally challenged brother, who would never reciprocate your love is also emotion. And Rainman shows it- Materialistic benefits, looks, apparent intelligence are all temporary- Emotions reign.