Callous hustler Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is busy working on his next deal when he receives word that his estranged father has died. After traveling back to Ohio from Los Angeles for the funeral, Charlie is miffed to find that although he will receive a vintage Buick from his father's estate, he isn't getting a cent of the three-million-dollar fortune. Instead, Charlie finds that the money has been left to the caretakers of his institutionalized autistic brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). Once he gets over the shock of the existence of a brother of whom he seems to have no recollection, Charlie kidnaps Raymond and heads cross-country in the Buick in an attempt to get a cut of the inheritance to pay off some of his failing deals. However, during their adventure, Charlie not only learns how to deal with Raymond's many idiosyncrasies, but he also actually begins to care about his older brother, surprising even himself with his ability to love and his realization that money isn't necessarily the most important thing. Barry Levinson directs Ron Bass's script with impeccable timing and a wonderful sense of humor.

After their father dies, a smooth-talking businessman is reunited with his autistic older brother to whose caretakers his father left a fortune. Needing the money himself, he kidnaps him for a rocky cross-country drive only to discover the void his brother had filled in his empty childhood.

Theatrical release: December 16, 1988.

Filmed on location in Cincinnati, Ohio; Oklahoma City, Hinto, El Reno, Guthrie, and Cogar, Oklahoma; Las Vegas, Nevada; Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; and Southgate, Kentucky.

Estimated budget: $25 million.

Academy Awards (4): Best Actor (Hoffman), Best Director, Best Pictire, Best Writing-Original Screenplay. Additional Academy Award nominations (4) for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Music-Original Score.

Richard Price, David Rayfiel and Kurt Luedtke were uncredited authors on the screenplay.

Martin Brest was originally to direct, but he resigned over creative differences. Barry Levinson took over and shot the film in nine weeks.

Autistic behavior consultants on the film were: Bernard Rinland of the Institute for Child Behavior Research, San Diego, California; Darold A. Treffert of Brookside Medical Center, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin; Ruth C. Sullivan of the Autism Services Center, Huntington, West Virginia; Bodil Sivertsen of the Jay Nolan Center, Los Angeles, California; Peter E. Tanguay of UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, Los Angeles, California; and Arnold M. Rosen of Gracie Square Hospital, New York, New York.

Began shooting May 2, 1988; completed shooting July 28, 1988. Shown at a benefit screening in Cincinnati, Ohio, December 13, 1988.

Shown in competition at the 1989 Berlin Film Festival February 19-20 and the 1989 Panorama of World Cinema in Sofia, Bulgaria, November 20-30.

Dustin Hoffman won the Italian David Award for Best Actor in a Foreign Film.

Excerpt: "Definitely not my underwear."--Raymond (Dustin Hoffman)

"Gotta watch Wapner. Gotta watch Wapner."--Raymond

DVD Features:

Region 1
Keep Case
Special Edition
Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
Mono - Spanish
Stereo Surround - French
Additional Release Material:
Deleted Scenes
Featurette
Collectible Packaging
Audio Commentary:
1. Barry Levinson - Director
2. Ronald Bass - Screenwriter
3. Barry Morrow - Screenwriter
Text/Photo Galleries:
Photo Galleries

Dustin Hoffman: American actor
Tom Cruise: American Actor, RISKY BUSINESS, EYES WIDE SHUT
Valeria Golino: Italian Actress
Jerry Molden: 
John M. Murdock: 
Michael D. Roberts: Actor/"Rain Man"
Ralph Seymour: Actor/"Rain Man"
Lucinda Jenney: American Actress
Bonnie Hunt: American actress, BEETHOVEN
Kim Robillard: 

Barry Levinson: Director/Screenwriter/Producer, DINER (1982)

Mark Johnson: Producer, "Donnie Brasco"

Ronald Bass: Screenwriter
Barry Morrow: Screenwriter (RAIN MAN)

Hans Zimmer: Composer

"Fifteen years after it won Best Picture, Barry Levinson's fable still resonates."
"Cruise gets serious, showing a generous willingness to play straight man to a flashier performance."
"...Hoffman steals the show..."
"...Hoffman makes all this hypnotically interesting..."
"...Dustin Hoffman, unforgettable as an autistic savant, again makes you wonder how many milestones one actor can accrue in a career..."
"...[For] Hoffman, RAIN MAN is a star's dream of a role....A becomingly modest, decently thought-out, sometimes funny film..."