Overview
Rain Man is a 1988 American road comedy-drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of abrasive, selfish young wheeler-dealer Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed virtually all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), an autistic savant, of whose existence Charlie was unaware. Charlie is left with only his father's beloved vintage car and rosebushes. Valeria Golino also stars as Charlie's girlfriend Susanna. Morrow created the character of Raymond after meeting Kim Peek, a real-life savant; his characterization was based on both Peek and Bill Sackter, a good friend of Morrow who was the subject of Bill (1981), an earlier film that Morrow wrote.
Rain Man premiered at the 39th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Bear, the festival's highest prize. It was theatrically released by MGM/UA Communications Co. in the United States on December 16, 1988, to critical and commercial success. Praise was given towards Levinson's direction, the performances (particularly Cruise's and Hoffman's), the instrumental score, Morrow's screenplay, the cinematography, and the film's portrayal of autism. The film grossed $354million, on a $25-million budget, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1988, and received a leading eight nominations at the 61st Academy Awards, winning four (more than any other film nominated); Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (for Hoffman), and Best Original Screenplay.
, Rain Man is the first and only film to win both the Berlin International Film Festival's highest award and the Academy Award for Best Picture in the same year. It was also the last film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to be nominated for Best Picture until Licorice Pizza (2021) 33 years later.
Plot
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