61st Academy Awards · 1989
Rain Man
Directed by Barry Levinson
“A journey through understanding and fellowship.”
The story
When car dealer Charlie Babbitt learns that his estranged father has died, he returns home to Cincinnati, where he discovers that he has a savant older brother named Raymond and that his father's $3 million fortune is being left to the mental institution in which Raymond lives. Motivated by his father's money, Charlie checks Raymond out of the facility in order to return with him to Los Angeles. The brothers' cross-country trip ends up changing both their lives.
What critics & audiences say
Tomatometer88%Fresh#68 of 98 winnersFamous lines
I'm an excellent driver.
Charlie: All airlines have crashed at one time or another. That doesn't mean that they are not safe.
Raymond: Qantas.
Charlie: Qantas?
Raymond: Qantas never crashed.
Uh oh, fifteen minutes to Judge Wapner.
K-Mart sucks.
Dad lets me drive slow on the driveway, but not on Monday. Definitely not on Monday.
Raymond: Gotta get my boxer shorts at K-Mart.
Charlie: … WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE WHERE YOU BUY UNDERWEAR?! … UNDERWEAR IS UNDERWEAR!
Charlie Babbitt made a joke.
You were in the window. You waved to me, "Bye bye Rain Man," "Bye bye.
What you have to understand is, four days ago he was only my brother in name. And this morning we had pancakes.
Charlie. Charlie. Main man.
Quotes via Wikiquote
Fun facts
- Bill Murray was originally envisioned for the role of Raymond, with Dustin Hoffman as Charlie, when agents at Creative Artists Agency sent out the script; real-life brothers Dennis and Randy Quaid were also considered.Wikipedia · Development
- Steven Spielberg was attached to direct for five months before leaving to make Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, a decision he would later regret; Martin Brest and Sydney Pollack were also involved at points.Wikipedia · Development
- At least fifteen major airlines cut the scene where Raymond refuses to fly and recites airline crashes, but Qantas showed it intact, since Raymond names it as the only airline that has "never crashed."Wikipedia · Qantas and airline controversy
- Screenwriter Barry Morrow created Raymond after meeting real-life savant Kim Peek, and also drew on his friendship with Bill Sackter, the subject of Morrow's earlier TV film Bill.Wikipedia · Development
- Almost all of the filming took place during the 1988 Writers Guild strike; co-writer Ronald Bass delivered his last draft only hours before the strike began and spent no time on set.Wikipedia · Filming
- Dustin Hoffman kept one of the film's two 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertibles for 34 years; it sold at auction in 2022 for $335,000.Wikipedia · The Buick convertible
- Rain Man was the highest-grossing film of 1988, earning more than $172 million in the US on a $25 million budget.Wikipedia · Box office
- Before winning the Best Picture Oscar, Rain Man took the Golden Bear, the top prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.Wikipedia · Lead
- The film is credited with popularizing the misconception that card counting is illegal in the United States.Wikipedia · Legacy
- Hoffman's preparation included work he had done years earlier at the New York Psychiatric Institute, and in his Oscar speech he thanked three men who inspired Raymond, including Kim Peek.Wikipedia · Development