It’s a monument to American cinema that will soon leave Prime Video: Rain Man, Barry Levinson’s film that was released in France in 1989, and here’s a synopsis:
After the death of his father, Charlie Babbitt, a busy businessman, inherits an old Buick that he has wanted for a long time, but was robbed of about three million francs, which he paid to the Walbrook Psychiatric Institute in favor of an anonymous beneficiary. Charlie goes to Walbrook and finds a lucky recipient. It is Raymond, an autistic savant whom he called Rain Man as a child, who embodies his only happy memories, and who is none other than his brother.
The most watched movie of 1989
Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, who play opposite each other here for the first and last time in their long careers, offer a disturbing, exciting and enlightening road movie with Rain Man. It is one of the first films to focus on the subject of autism, which is treated here with tenderness and humor.
The character of Raymond, played by Hoffman, is actually inspired by the American Kim Peek, who suffered from Savant syndrome all his life (and not Asperger’s syndrome, as many Internet users may have believed). The latter gave him a particularly extraordinary memory.
With 6,474,520 admissions at the time of release, Rain Man was the highest-grossing film of the year, surpassing Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (within 200,000 admissions). It is an interesting fact that I will tell you here, it was the latter who had to make a feature film before changing course.
plane of discord
Charlie (Cruise) quickly realizes that Raymond has a pretty special memory and uses it to pad his bank account by going around Las Vegas. But the businessman also discovers that his new friend also has OCD, mania and phobias, which will make their trip special: he is as afraid of traffic accidents as he is of airplanes. He categorically refuses to get into a flying object and lists recent accidents.
This anxiety attack, which is one of the main moments of the story for the director, has an unexpected result in real life. In 1989, when Rain Man was added to the catalog of films offered by certain airlines, the latter decided to cut this scene so as not to scare customers…
Rain Man leaves Prime Video on May 31st.
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
