When car dealer Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility in order to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers' cross-country trip ends up changing both their lives.
Acting
Hoffman's transformative; Cruise finally acts, not just smirks.
Writing
Turns a custody battle into genuine brotherly love.
Direction
Levinson lets silences land harder than dialogue.
Director
Barry Levinson
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hoffman originally wanted Bill Murray for Charlie; imagine THAT alternate timeline.
Rain Man became shorthand for autism in pop culture—for better and worse, shaping decades of representation.
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