Amongst his troubles, he learns that his father -who he hadn't talked to in many years- passed away. To his amazement, his welthy father left him nothing but a car. To his surprise, he has a brother. And that brother landed his father's entire estate.
Charlie did not know he had a brother, but what's more, is that his "new" brother, Raymond Babbit (Dustin Hoffman) is autistic, and a special autistic, to boot.
Raymond can memorize things and remember them in great detail. For instance, he memorizes a phonebook up to letter "G". Also, give him any year and date and he can tell you what day that is.
Charlie flys to meet his brother, and find out why he doesn't get any money from his father. To his amazement, he takes a liking to Charlie, and decides to take him home. But, once Charlie learns of Raymond's special abilities, he decides to take a detour to Las Vegas, to play Black Jack. The reason? Raymond can count cards. Raymond can figure out when to stay and when to hit. Charlie, can then pay back the people he owes money to, for the cars he couldn't deliver.
Together, Charlie and Raymond clean up; they make $80,000+ in one night. All is not pretty, because the casino officials figure them out and tell 'em to get the hell out. They do.
By the end, Charlie realizes that he loves Raymond because they used to play together, and Raymond used to sing Charlie to sleep. Although Charlie never knew it, he always remembered someone called "the Rain Man," which turned out to be Raymond.
Charlie wants Raymond to come live with him, and tries futally to fight for custody. But Charlie eventually realizes that Raymond is better off with the carring folks at the special center that Raymond has lived in for most of his life.
Plot: 
It's refreshing to find a totally new idea for a movie for a change. Rain Man was a movie whose plot was fresh and original. It was, from start to finish, a great new movie idea.
Visual Effects: 
Rain Man doesn't rely on visual effects to be a good movie. In fact, it is a great movie without them. Verily, Rain Man really doesn't have any visuals. At the very beginning of the film, we see Tom Cruise with several Lamboughini's... this alone gives the "visuals" catagory a "slight" boost.
Sound:
Normal car sounds, casino sounds, and Dustin Hoffman's constant chatter. Need I say more?
Character Development:
The character of Charilie Babbit evolves from a hard-nosed snot to a carring compasionate brother. Raymond, however, does not evolve because he is autistic, and really, he can't.
One of the best features of this movie, Rain Man, is that it has characters that you can relate to. Almost everyone knows someone who has a life altering disease.
Atmosphere:
There is not a lot to get youn into this movie to start, but once it gets deeper into the film, you get right in. You even feel for Raymond as the autistic, and hope the best for him.
Realism:
A realistic cross country learning experiance Vegas gambling custody battle that ends realistically and on a good note.
Warren’s Rating:
Movies it beat out for Best Picture:
The Accidental Tourist, (1988); Dangerous Liaisons, (1988);
Mississippi Burning, (1988); Working Girl, (1988)
6.57/10 Is the movie worth your time to watch?
11-04-03
Age at win: 51
Nominated for: Best Actor in a Leading Role, Raymond Babbit, Rain Man
Nomination: 6/7 (acting), 6/7 (total); Win: 2nd
Dustin Hoffman is a great Actor, and has show it by playing m,any varied role from a male prostitue in Midnight Cowboy to an autistic brother in Rain Man to Captain Hook in, well, Hook.
Yes, that previous paragraph was taken from Hoffman's award spiel on the Kramer Vs. Kramer page but it is so fitting for him, because he is such a diverse actor.
Hoffman plays Raymond Babbit, the Autistic brother of Charlie Babbit (Tom Cruise.) Hoffman is excelent in character; he even sounds like a true autistic person:
"97X, bam! The future of rock 'n' roll. 97X, bam! The future of rock 'n' roll. 97X, bam! The future ofrock 'n' roll."
"Ray, enough already! Change the channel."
"97X, bam! The future of rock 'n' roll. 97X, bam! The future of rock 'n' roll. Definatly 97x."
Dustin Hoffman isn't the first ans wasn't the last actor to play an autistic on screen, but he is definatly one of, if not, the best.
11-04-03
