Rain Man Blu Ray – Valeria Golino, Tom Cruise

Self-centred car exporter Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) attends his estranged father’s funeral to collect his inheritance. To his surprise, he discovers the money is going to Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), the autistic brother he never knew he had. Charlie ‘kidnaps’ Raymond in an effort to claim some of his inheritance but, as he grows closer to his brother, he realises there may be more to life than money. Oscars were won for Best Picture, Best Actor (Hoffman) and Best Director (Barry Levinson).

Rain Man is the kind of touching drama that Oscars are made for–and, sure enough, the film took Academy honours for best picture, director, screenplay and actor (Dustin Hoffman) in 1988. Hoffman plays Raymond, an autistic savant whose late father has left him $3 million in a trust. This gets the attention of his materialistic younger brother, a hot-shot LA car dealer named Charlie (Tom Cruise) who wasn’t even aware of Raymond’s existence until he read his estranged father’s will. Charlie picks up Raymond and takes him on a cross-country journey that becomes a voyage of discovery for Charlie, and, perhaps, for Raymond too. Rain Man will either captivate or irritate you (Raymond’s sputtering of repetitious phrases is enough to drive anyone crazy), but it is obviously a labour of love for those involved. Hoffman had been attached to the film for many years, as various directors and writers came and went, but his persistence eventually paid off–kind of like Raymond in Las Vegas. Look for director Barry Levinson in a cameo as a psychiatrist near the end of the film. –Jim Emerson, Amazon.com