Rain Man
A journey through understanding and fellowship.
Rain Man (1988)
Production
Budget
$25 000 000
Revenue
$354 825 435
Director
Scenario
Barry Morrow
Author
Composer
Producer
Mark Johnson
Actors
Dustin Hoffman
Raymond Babbitt
Tom Cruise
Charlie Babbitt
Valeria Golino
Susanna
Gerald R. Molen
Dr. Bruner
Jack Murdock
John Mooney
Ralph Seymour
Lenny
Lucinda Jenney
Iris
Short description
Charlie Babbitt is a car dealer whose estranged father has died. When Charlie returns to Cincinnati for the estate, he learns that he has an older brother, Raymond, and that most of the fortune goes to the institution where Raymond has lived for years. Raymond is autistic, dependent on strict routines, and remarkable at calculation and memory. Charlie takes him out of the facility and sets off for Los Angeles, hoping to secure a share of the money. The journey forces the two very different brothers into constant company.
Barry Levinson directed the film, the seventh of the twenty-eight features he has directed in chronological order, following Tin Men and preceding Avalon. The screenplay is by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass, and Mark Johnson produced. Dustin Hoffman plays Raymond and Tom Cruise plays Charlie, with Valeria Golino as Susanna, Gerald R. Molen as Dr. Bruner, Jack Murdock as John Mooney and Michael D. Roberts as Vern. The credited cast numbers sixty-seven, the credited crew fifty-five.
Made for about 25 million dollars, the film took roughly 355 million dollars worldwide, a large return on its budget. On IMDb it holds 8 out of 10 from about 582,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.7 out of 10 from more than 7,000 votes. A critics' rating of 8.3 out of 10 from 137 reviews is slightly above both audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- In the scene where Raymond watches television built into the armchair, and also in one of the scenes where he watches his portable mini-television, the soap opera “Santa Barbara” (1984-1993) is playing on the screen.
- Jack Nicholson turned down the role of Raymond.
- During breaks between filming scenes in the casino, Dustin Hoffman gambled. Therefore, the film's producers assigned a special person to watch him while he played in the casino.
- In the episode where Raymond catches Charlie and Susanna making love, the film “Sweet Smell of Success” (1957) is shown on television.
- Ralph Tabakin played small roles in all of Barry Levinson's films between 1982 and 1999.
- During filming, Tom Cruise constantly wanted to rehearse. Together with Hoffman, he rehearsed even in the car on the way to the set, as well as in their trailers. While rehearsing, they often switched roles.
- The episode in which Raymond, after a conversation with a psychiatrist, leans his head towards Charlie and says the words “My main man Charlie,” was not in the script and was entirely improvised by Hoffman. The role of the psychiatrist deciding whether Raymond should stay with Charlie or not was played by the film's director, Barry Levinson, who replaced actor J.T. Walsh.
- In the original script, Charlie Babbitt was 56 years old.
- According to Barry Levinson, Ray's remark that Qantas planes never crash was an improvisation by Dustin Hoffman, and he didn't know if it was true. In reality, the airline had recorded 7 plane crashes that occurred before filming began. However, those planes were propeller-driven, not turbine-powered. Ray's statement about Qantas's turbine-powered planes remains true to this day, as, as of early 2007, Qantas had no recorded crashes of turbine-powered aircraft.
- The image of Raymond was a composite, based on the life stories of several well-known autistic individuals with extraordinary abilities.
- The screenplay was written with Dennis Quaid and Randy Quaid in mind.
- The portable television that Raymond carries with him is a real Sony Watchman FD-40A.
- At one point, Steven Spielberg considered directing the film himself. He even began making notes, preparing to work on the project. However, around that time, George Lucas started working on the third Indiana Jones film, and Spielberg had no choice but to give up 'Rain Man.' He handed over all his notes to Barry Levinson, who then came on board as director.
- Initially, Dustin Hoffman was supposed to play Charlie Babbitt, but after seeing the autistic savant Leslie Lemke (a blind, intellectually disabled person suffering from cerebral palsy, but capable of playing entire piano concerts by ear) and being moved to tears, he decided to play Raymond.
- The airport scene was cut by almost all airlines for screenings during flights. Only Qantas left this episode in.
- Jake Hoffman, the boy in the diner where Charlie and Raymond eat pancakes, is Dustin Hoffman's son.
- In the scene where Raymond dances in the elevator with Suzanne, the film "Let's Dance" (1937) is playing on his pocket television.
- At the beginning of the film, when the lawyer reads Charlie the will, Charlie says: “I definitely get the roses, I absolutely get the roses.” Notably, Raymond quite often uses the word “definitely.”
- According to reports, "Rain Man" was one of Princess Diana’s favorite films.
- The slogan Raymond hears on the radio – “97 ex. Bam! The future of rock and roll” – actually aired on a real radio station, “WOXY” in Ohio.
- Tom Cruise wears sunglasses in the film, the sales of which increased by 15% after the movie's release.
- The original script called for the farmer's family to have only two children, however when Katherine Dougherty came to the audition with her six sons, the script was rewritten to include four more children.
- To prepare for the role, Tom Cruise worked as an orderly in a hospital for autistic people for some time.
- Hoffman insisted that in the finale, Raymond return to the hospital. The actor believed that the writers' idea of leaving Raymond with Charlie would look implausible in the film.
- Raymond appeared quite happy and friendly in the original script, but after the first reading, Dustin Hoffman insisted that his character be a typical autistic person.
- The Saint Anne's convent was used for filming the hospital scene at Wallbrook.
- The song that Raymond sang to Charlie is "I Saw Her Standing There" by The Beatles from their debut album "Please Please Me".
- The elderly man in the waiting room, talking about the Pony Express, is Bryon P. Counar, an 89-year-old local who was in the waiting room when the film crew arrived. He began talking about the Pony Express, and Barry Levinson liked his story so much that he immediately offered him a role in the film. Counar's entire monologue was spontaneous and not mentioned in the script.
- During filming, Dustin Hoffman was unsure of the film's commercial potential, as well as his own acting. Three weeks after filming began, he told Barry Levinson: “Cast Richard Dreyfuss in this role, or another actor, because this is the worst acting of my career.” However, it was for this role that Dustin received his second Oscar.
- During filming, Hoffman and Cruise doubted the commercial potential of the film and jokingly called it "Two Losers in a Car".
- Raymond says his underwear was bought at "K-Mart" on the corner of Oak and Burnett. In reality, a "Vernon Manor Hotel" is located at that address in Cincinnati. At the beginning of the film, Charlie, Raymond, and Susanna stop at this hotel.
- Initially, Dustin Hoffman wanted Bill Murray to play the role of Charlie.
- When Barry Levinson was first offered to direct this film, he refused. He filmed "Good Morning, Vietnam" in 1987, and only after several directors dropped out of the "Rain Man" project did he take on the work.
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Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
