Rain on the Parade

Rain Man is one of those movies that has ascended into the pop culture zeitgeist. People who've never seen the movie still recognize the many references to it that seem to pop up all over the place. Until recently, I was one of those people myself. I doubted very much that the movie could live up to the reputation preceding it, but I decided to check it out anyway.

First, the good. Dustin Hoffman is nothing short of incredible in this movie. I've seen plenty of movies he has starred in, yet once again he vanished completely into a character in this movie. It's the sort of performance where only after the movie do you stop to think, "wow, he was really good," because during the movie, you just believe the character without question. I think it's an all the more lofty achievement, 20 years on, now that impressions of him (mostly bad) have shown up everywhere. He just never seems to be putting on a show at any point in the film; he's completely natural.

Tom Cruise, on the other hand, can't possibly keep up. In fact, 20 years' time has probably hurt his performance here, as we now have a greater context in which to wonder, "was he even really acting there?" His mannerisms, his delivery, his brand of wild energy, seems similiar to so many of his other films, and a virtual clone of character in Jerry Maguire. And all of it is uncomfortably close to the real persona he seems to project in interviews. He just seems to be playing his highly-strung self in this movie.

The script is a mixed bag. Story-wise, there's not a lot going on. This is a pretty simple "road trip" movie, unique only in the choice of the characters to headline the movie. It's written deftly enough to serve up a few good dramatic scenes with genuine emotion, but not so deftly that the conclusion is ultimately believable. The Charlie character is simply too big a jerk, and too unlikeable at the outset, for his transformation by the end of the movie to seem credible.

Overall, I'd rate the movie a C+. Dustin Hoffman would pretty much be the reason to see it, if you haven't. Otherwise, you've probably seen enough of the film through homages in other places that you don't really need to.