Rain Man

Comedy, Drama, Adventure

Tom Cruise	Charlie Babbitt
Andrew Dougherty
Dolan Dougherty
John-Michael Dougherty
Marshall Dougherty
Dustin Hoffman	Raymond Babbitt
Valeria Golino	Susanna
Gerald R. Molen	Dr. Bruner
Jack Murdock	John Mooney
Michael D. Roberts	Vern
Ralph Seymour	Lenny
Lucinda Jenney	Iris
Bonnie Hunt	Sally Dibbs
Kim Robillard	Small Town Doctor

Director	Levinson, Barry; Barry Levinson
Producer	Peter Guber; Jon Peters
Writer	Barry Morrow; Ronald Bass
Cinematography	John Seale
Musician	Hans Zimmer

Rain Man is the kind of touching drama that Oscars are made for--and, sure enough, the film took Academy honors for best picture, director, screenplay, and actor (Dustin Hoffman) in 1988. Hoffman plays Raymond, an autistic savant whose late father has left him $3 million in a trust. This gets the attention of his materialistic younger brother, a hot-shot LA car dealer named Charlie (Tom Cruise) who wasn't even aware of Raymond's existence until he read his estranged father's will. Charlie picks up Raymond and takes him on a cross-country journey that becomes a voyage of discovery for Charlie, and, perhaps, for Raymond, too. Rain Man will either captivate you or irritate you (Raymond's sputtering of repetitious phrases is enough to drive anyone crazy), but it is obviously a labor of love for those involved. Hoffman had been attached to the film for many years, as various directors and writers came and went, but his persistence eventually paid off--kind of like Raymond in Las Vegas. Look for director Barry Levinson in a cameo as a psychiatrist near the end of the film. --Jim Emerson