Rain Man

Summary

“K-Mart sucks.”

In 1988, Rain Man was released in theaters. With two strong central performances by Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman, the film was a hit critically and commercially. While some critics dismissed the film (especially Pauline Kael,) audiences responded to the film. Made for roughly $25 million, Rain Man was a blockbuster hit grossing somewhere in the range of $400 million worldwide. At the Academy Awards the film won in four categories – Best Picture, Best Director for Barry Levinson, Best Actor for Dustin Hoffman, and Best Original Screenplay for Barry Morrow and Ron Bass. The film was a staple of cable television in the Nineties, and I have no ideas how many times I watched it as a kid, so I was excited to see that MVD Visual’s Marquee Classics line had picked up the film as one of their very first 4K releases. MVD’s new 4K UHD release is easily the best way to revisit the film.

As the film begins, Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise,) dressed in a grey suit, watches as the new Lamborghinis come off the dock. At Bobby Collectibles, basically a hangar with a few desks and phones, Charlie keeps the wolves at bay with his customers on the phone line. He has sold them some Lamborghinis which they have already paid a down payment for but have not yet received. The cars have been held up by the EPA for failed emissions tests. He directs his employee to keep stalling them and to lie about the progress with the EPA. Charlie is also helped by his patient girlfriend Susana (Valeria Golino.) They have dated for a year, and Charlie has been emotionally unavailable. As they head out to go to Palm Springs for a long weekend, Charlie gets news on his car phone that his father Sanford Babbitt has died. The funeral will take place in Cincinnatti. Charlie has been estranged from his father for years. They turn around their car, and head to Cincinnatti. After the funeral, Susana and Charlie go to Charlie’s father’s house. The dad had a beautiful Buick convertible that was the object of desire for Charlie in high school. That car had broken their relationship apart. After receiving good grades, Charlie had asked for permission to take out the Buick. When his dad declined, Charlie had stolen it and then been pulled over. His dad allowed him to stay locked up in jail for two days. After that, Charlie cut off all communication with his father. At the reading of the will, the will discusses their estrangement from one another. The will leaves award winning rose bushes and the Buick to Charlie, but the rest of the property (worth roughly three million) has been placed into a trust for an unnamed beneficiary. Charlie and Susana investigate the trust and it leads them to an institution for mentally handicapped individuals. The WallBrook institution, led by Dr. Bruner (Gerald R. Molen) has been given charge of the funds, which causes great confusion for Charlie until he steps outside. A patient named Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) has stepped into the car with Susana. Raymond explains that the Buick was his father’s car, and then he lists the address where Sanford lived. Charlie realizes that he has a brother. He also learns from talking to Dr. Bruner that his brother has no conception of money despite inheriting three million dollars. Raymond is an autistic savant – a high functioning autistic – who has been in the institution for thirty years. Raymond has nearly photographic memory. He is amazing at remembering details of baseball cards but has difficulty in regular situations where he is not in a controlled environment. Charlie walks Raymond down the long road of the grounds, and, without asking Dr. Gruner’s permission, they head out toward Los Angeles. Charlie has self serving plans to get his half of the inheritance from his brother.

Rain Man is almost an art film, but it is also a crowd pleaser. The film continued the upwards trajectory of actor Tom Cruise, and earned Dustin Hoffman an Academy Award. Those two key performances elevate a script that in lesser hands could have fallen apart. Barry Levinson did an excellent job of drawing out excellent performances from his actors. When making a film that deals with mental disabilities, it is a tightrope act to make sure that the writing never veers into unintentional parody or too far into unrealistic portrayals. My wife has an autistic cousin and I have worked with a nonprofit for a number of years that assists people with disabilities. Rain Man helped bring better awareness of autism to the populace and it did so with a small amount of humor and a large amount of compassion. I think the character of Raymond may be a fairly atypical autistic, but I still enjoy the character’s portrayal in the film. The script for the film by Barry Morrow and Ron Wood is solid, even if aspects of it feel somewhat sanitized versus how an independent film might have handled the material. I really appreciate that the character of Charlie is not a likable protagonist. People were shocked in the late Nineties by Tom Cruise’s turn in Magnolia, but this character is basically just as terrible in my eyes. He is a self serving, emotionally anemic, yuppie shyster who is completely willing to kidnap his mentally disabled brother to extort funds for which he feels entitled. Luckily, the character has a tremendous amount of emotional growth over the course of the film to be redeemed, but Tom Cruise should probably have been given more credit at the time for playing such an asshole. Dustin Hoffman has been given tons of praise for his performance as Raymond and it is well deserved. It is an unforgettable role. Valeria Golino was an early onscreen crush for me, and this was one of her standout roles. 

I have a fondness for road trip films and Rain Man is a road trip movie across half of America in the Eighties. As a nostalgist, Rain Man will always be enjoyable to me to see our country in that time in which so many of my early memories were formed. It serves as a great time capsule. The music by a young Hans Zimmer plays very well with the imagery onscreen and fits the time period perfectly. It was one of Zimmer’s first scores for an American film and earned him his first Academy nomination. I really enjoyed his music in the film. The cinematography by John Seale also earned a nomination at the Oscars. The film has a nice look that never overemphasizes style over letting the settings shine.

Rain Man is a good American drama that is basically just as good as you remember. The Vegas sequence is still just as great as you recall, and so are the performances. If you are a fan of the film, the 4K release by MVD is a great reason to revisit the picture.

Video

Presented in Native 4K in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, Rain Man shines in MVD Visual’s new UHD presentation. A lot of effort has been out into the transfer with a true-to-theatrical color reproduction and extremely well resolved grain. The color palette of the film is fairly reserved, so it is not going to be a showpiece for the full capabilities of the UHD format, but in a way this is a showpiece for just how good these types of films can look. There are scenes that really pop, such as when they pull up to the pink neon-lit Big-8s Motel, but most of the film is less pronounced. The Las  Vegas sequences really pop. Grain is extremely well resolved. The film looks great on the format, with really attractive color grading. The film has definitely never looked better and I don’t know that it would be possible for the film to be improved visually from this presentation. Barry Levinson approved the transfer for this release. I look forward to seeing what films MVD will bring to 4K in the future.

Audio

MVD Visual has presented Rain Man with a solid DTS-HD MA 5.1 track. While an Atmos track would have been a welcome addition, I was pleased with what MVD offered. The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track brings out the very best qualities of the film’s soundtrack. The score by Hans Zimmer is light and beautiful and brings the visuals of the film to life. Zimmer has had so many different styles of composing in his long and storied career, and this soundtrack is similar to his work on True Romance. Fans of the film will enjoy how it sounds.

Supplements:

4K UHD Disc

• Original Theatrical Trailer 
• Audio Commentary by Director Barry Levinson 
• Audio Commentary by Writer Barry Morrow 
• Audio Commentary by Writer Ronald Bass

1080 Disc

• The Journey of Rain Man – this archival piece features interviews with Barry Levinson, screenwriters Barry Morrow and Ron Bass, composer Hans Zimmer, and more. The piece makes the most of it’s twenty minute runtime.
• Lifting the Fog: A Look at the Mysteries of Autism – this archival piece ties in ideas for the film with interviews with actual autistic savant individuals and experts in the field.
• Deleted Scene
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Audio Commentary by Director Barry Levinson 
• Audio Commentary by Writer Barry Morrow 
• Audio Commentary by Writer Ronald Bass

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.5/5 

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4.5/5

Rain Man is a well made drama that hinges on the two exceptional performances by Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. The film is a time capsule of its time and has aged well. The film was a critical and commercial success and won numerous Academy Awards. It is an enjoyable road trip movie that helped raise awareness about autism while delivering a compassionate film with some memorable moments of humor. MVD Visual has given fans of the film an excellent reason to revisit the picture. Rain Man has never looked or sounded better than it does now. It is obvious that MVD spent a tremendous amount of time working on the transfer because grain is incredibly well resolved and the color reproduction is fantastic. Barry Levinson approved the 4K transfer with good reason. The archival supplements on the Blu-ray are of high quality. I look forward to seeing what MVD releases on 4K next, because this is the definitive way to view Rain Man.