01 July 2010

Rain Man (1988)


Trailer

Tom Cruise is a wiener.

So basically: this douche-bot of an L.A. car dealer, played by Tom Cruise - who else - gets a call that his estranged father has passed. Him and his girlfriend travel to Cincinnati to attend the funeral and sort out the will. Charlie Babbit (Tom Cruise) is told that all he gets is the car that caused their fall-out and some prize rose bushes, while a trustee receives the 3 million dollar estate and assets. Charlie goes to investigate who this trustee is and discovers that he has an autistic brother, a brother that no one bothered to tell him about. In order to get "his" half the money (he thinks he's entitled to it), he kidnaps his brother from the home he is in. Because Raymond refuses to fly and Charlie needs to get back to his failing business in L.A. they take road trip across the country. At first, Charlie is only using his brother to obtain his part of the inheritance, but along the way he learns to love and accept his brother.

It looks like the 80's threw up this film. Seriously. The 80's are brilliant, tho; filled with terrible hair and outrageous outfits. What could be better? Not Tom Cruise. Not Charlie Babbit. The way he treats Susanna is disgusting. And she goes back to him! What the hell is wrong with her?? And Charlie Babbit? I mean, I get that they wanted to make him as douchey as possible in the beginning and then make him learn to love his brother and forget about the money in the end, but it's not that believable in the time frame. Road trips are a magical thing, but it was only SIX DAYS! and he was a total douche! He can't have changed that much. Dustin Hoffman's portrayal of Raymond Babbit was charming and beautifully acted. Thank god for him or this picture would not be worth watching.

This was probably a breakthrough when it came out, and I get that it's a classic, but I do not think it deserves to be on the list (at least, the prestige the list seems to carry, which I don't believe it should have, either. It's just a list!). It wasn't that great and I had little emotion towards this picture, which I felt I should have had.

Ziggi seal of disapproval!

9 comments:

  1. Wow, he does sound like a douche. I would kick him if that were possible.

    Oh, the 80's. So wonderful. So terrible.

    YOU say it is just a list? Ziggi of the many lists?

    Oh no, fail movie :O

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  2. I guess this movie meant a little more to me because -I- have an autistic brother. I suppose I was mostly just watching Dustin Hoffman act instead of watching Charlie be a douche bag though he obviously was. It was a great movie, but I Am Sam probably tops it for believability and heart warming. Like I have to agree, Charlie's transformation was a little abrupt. I mean it could have been done better if his brother was assigned to his care the beneficiary of all the money, or something...I don't know. I'm not a script writer, but I do think it was good.

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    1. I seriously can’t believe you mentioned Rain Man and I Am Sam in the same sentence. Rain Man was funnier, more believable, and much better writing. However, I am Sam, on the other hand, was just a piece of shit. I loved Rain Man and hated I Am Sam with a passion

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  3. Dustin Hoffman was brilliant in this film, which does make it worth it.
    I agree with you on I Am Sam. And this film could have definitely been done much better [at least Charlie Babbit's character]

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    1. You thought I Am Sam was better than this, ugh! Rain Man is a classic, meanwhile I Am Sam is a dogshit crapfest. You seem to love mediocre films and hate good ones.

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  4. Calling Charlie Babbit a Douche only show how good an actor is Tom Cruise who was over shadowed by non other than Dustin Hoffman for his portrayal of an autistic person. You are perfectly correct when you pointed out that "the douche" can't change much in Six days.. As a matter of fact he doesn't.. Its clearly shown by Charlie Babbit's reaction in the scene following when Dustin Hoffman looses $2000 while playing the wheel of fortune or something when they are at Las Vegas... But Carlie also connects with his brother when he recalls his imaginary childhood friend and the song they sang... I would certainly love to have this movie up in the Top 100 and not somewhere at the bottom near 250...

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  5. I think we're just going to have to disagree.
    I cannot stand this film. Maybe because I saw it twice within a week and I was just sick of it? But, I wasn't particularly fond of it on my first viewing ...

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  6. Wow, what a bogus review. This is a great road trip comedy drama. Not every character has to be instantly likable, I thought the movie was very well-acted, well-written, and well-directed. It even won Best Picture, I’m sorry, but you completely missed on this one.

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