Rain Man [M]

Heartless Charlie Babbitt expects a vast inheritance after his father dies, but the fortune, instead, goes to Raymond, Charlie's institutionalised older brother whom he has been completely unaware of. In a fit of anger and bitter disappointment, Charlie kidnaps Raymond and take him on a cross-crountry road trip. But along the way, Charlie's bitterness melts away as he learns about his brother and their past together.

I think it's official now, "Hard Hearted Hannah" (that's me) is no longer the stone, but a feeling individual who sheds tears during beautiful and emotionally powerful movies. I cried through Precious and now I've cried through the heartwarming story of Rain Man.

Heartless Charlie Babbitt expects a huge inheritance after his estranged father dies. But the fortune of 3 million dollars goes to his older, autistic brother Raymond, whom Charlie has never met nor even heard of. In a fit of anger and bitter disappointment Charlie kidnaps Raymond and takes him on a cross-country road trip to Las Angeles, intending to either gain custody over him or get his half of the inheritance. But as they spend more time together, Charlie sees that Raymond, although possessing severely limited mental abilities in some areas, is a bonafide genius in other areas, like working with numbers and having a picture perfect memory. Charlie's initail bitterness then completely melts away as he shares painful past memories with his brother and even establishes a connection with him.

This was a truly beautiful film. It's one of those movies that I'd heard alot about, but had never actually been inspired to watch. I am very very very glad that I pulled it out from work the other day. The film was in essence, a truly beautiful story about overcoming first impressions and, through understanding and patience, establishing a connection and even a brotherhood. It was simple too. There were no outrageous CGI effects, no extravagant make-up or costumes, just a good story with a beautiful script and wonderful acting. What a movie should be.

Tom Cruise is the heartless Charlie. I've never really been a Tom Cruise fan, really only for the fact that everyone seems to love him. I have no real solid foundation for my lack of interest in him. After watching this movie, the white flag has gone up and I have given in. Although he plays a complete prick, he plays it with an anger, an arrogance, and then with an understanding and defensiveness. He goes from only wanting to protect himself to genuinely wanting to protect his older brother. I thought he was very beautiful in this movie.

Dustin Hoffman is Raymond. I love Dustin. He is simply wonderful. And in this movie, I felt as though my heart would burst. His performance is basically inpossible to describe in words. It was just the feelings that he made you feel. Throughout the entire film, I went through a range of emotions including sympathy, pity, worry, anticipation, horror, anxiousness, sadness, and happiness. That's what a truly good actor can do! Make you feel! There was this one scene in the movie that had me in tears. Charlie is telling Raymond that's he's going home and that it may be a while before they get to see each other again. He then tells him that he is happy to have Raymond as his older brother. Then their heads meet and they just sit there. Not hugging, not handling each other in away way. Just sitting there with their heads resting on one another. It was the most powerful and beautiful thing I have ever seen! Man, now I need another tissue.

Oscar winner for "Best Picture" in 1988, Rain Man is a beautiful drama about the journey of two distrusting souls into a close and loving brotherhood. Simply beautiful!