Rain Man

Back in the late 1980′s, the subject of Autism was not well known throughout America. It was the film that is the subject of this review, Rain Man, that thrust the topic of Autism into the mainstream of the collective American consciousness. Since then, Autism has been in the news more and more, with the incidents of the diagnosis of Autism on the upswing and with the since discredited concerns about the role of vaccinations in the rise of the of the incidents of Autism over the past decade or so.

More and more of us, myself included, know someone with Autism or one of the Autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger’s Syndrome. For me, this topic hits home as I have a son with just such a condition. I thought it would be very interesting to see if my views of Rain Man and its treatment of the topic of Autism would change in light of my personal experiences with the subject. I can report that is has only increased my respect and appreciation for the film as well as all those involved in its production.

Film  

Needless to say, I guess you can say that I am a bit biased in how I view Rain Man given my personal experience with Autism. I will say that I loved the film even before I had any personal experience with the condition or even knew anyone who had been diagnosed with it. Looking back on the film all these years later, my appreciation has only increased. I can relate to the character of Charlie Babbitt (played brilliantly by Tom Cruise) as he grows exasperated by his brother Raymond’s (Dustin Hoffman in an Oscar winning performance) preoccupation with his underwear. In fact, there are numerous instances in the film just like that which I can relate to, having experienced similar things myself, although not quite as extreme.

Rain Man is a brilliant film, brilliantly written, acted and directed. The fact that it won 4 Oscars for Best Picture, Actor, Director and Screenplay is no surprise looking back all these years later. That is not always the case with the Oscars, which sometimes leave you scratching your head with the selections in hindsight, much like the Grammy’s. The film itself is rather interesting in how it evolves.

The film opens with Charlie in a bit of a business bind, when the cars he is importing from Europe won’t clear customs in Los Angeles due to not being equipped with the proper emissions equipment. Not being able to deliver the cars and collect the fees will ruin his business. While dealing with this issue, he is advised that his father has died. While Charlie has not seen his father in years and had an estranged relationship with him, he returns to Cincinnati for the funeral, ostensibly to collect his inheritance, as money seems to be the only thing that Charlie can appreciate.

Much to his surprise, his father left the bulk of his estate in trust for someone else, leaving him with just an old car, a valuable one at that, but far from the $3 million he was expecting. He quickly finds out that the money was left in trust for the lifetime care of an autistic brother he didn’t even know that he had when he visits the institution where he resides. Charlie decides to essentially kidnap his brother Raymond and tale him back to Los Angeles as a way to break the trust and collect at least half of the inheritance that he feels is his. Along the way, in dealing with his brother, Charlie changes and becomes a much better man, learning to actually love his brother, even though he does use his brother’s unbelievable skills to make enough money in Las Vegas to rescue his business.

While Charlie takes quite an intellectual and personal journey during the film, Raymonds’ is just a physical one. Raymond remains utterly the same from the beginning of the film to the very end. It is just Charlie who has evolved and for the better. Rain Man is a great film that has withstood the test of time. While I may be a bit biased, if you haven’t seen this film, please do, if just to learn a little about the subject of autism. You will be glad you did. Rain Man is very highly recommended.

Video  

While I loved the film, I can’t say that I loved the visuals all that much. Rain Man is heavy on the grain which is fine by me. The issue I had with the visuals relates to the fact that the image is very soft with mediocre blacks at best. The color is also a bit undersaturated which along with the mediocre, leaves the picture looking a bit flat and very dated looking. If you are looking for an image that is sharp, vibrant and detailed, Rain Man is not the film for you, as is soft and flat. I do not know if this is how the film is supposed to look as I have not seen it in years in a theater. Whether the film is in the need of a major restoration I will leave to others. While Rain Man is not the best looking Blu-ray I have seen, it is such a great film that really deserves a look.

Audio  

For me, the real star on the audio front is the musical score which sounds fantastic. The music track is smooth and full with deep bass with excellent transparency and fidelity. The depth of the music is superb, as you are able to hear deep into the music, which is utterly three dimensional. Hans Zimmer’s original score sounds fantastic. The rest of the audio is good but not up to the level of the music.

The rest of the sound design is rather front heavy, with only occasional and subtle use of the surrounds. An immersive sound mix this is not. The overall fidelity is good although not quite up to that of the musical score, sounding a bit thinner and flatter than the music. The dialogue track is well recorded and well presented in the mix. Were it not for the quality of the music in this mix, it would rate no more than a 3.5 on a scale of 5. The fidelity of the music is so good to pull the overall score up to a solid 4.

Special Features 

The extras here are rather mundane in terms of originality. The extras include separate audio commentaries from director Barry Levinson, writer Barry Morrow and writer Ronald Bass. Also included is one deleted scene. There is the typical behind the scenes making of featurette entitled “The Journey of Rain Man”. For me, the best of the extras is the featurette “Lifting the Fog: A look at the Mysteries of Autism”, where experts in the field discuss autism, although not in the depth I would like. What is most interesting about this featurette is the interviews with two men with Autism, Joseph Sullivan and Peter Guthrie, who were the two men who formed the basis of Dustin Hoffman’s interpretation of Raymond. It is clear that Dustin Hoffman patterned his speech and mannerisms on Peter Guthrie. I also found the insights provided by Peter Guthrie’s brother into living with a brother with Autism. This is the one featurette which is well worth a look and is highly recommended.

Final Thoughts  

Rain Man is a great film featuring stellar performances by both Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. While not the best looking film on Blu-ray, the film is so good that it is a worthy addition to the collection of any film fan and is very highly recommended.