Rain Man Blu-Ray

Rain Man probably doesn’t need much introduction. At the 1988 Academy Awards the film cleaned up, taking Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Actor (Dustin Hoffman), and Best Original Screenplay. The film made quite an impact when it first came out, and the strong qualities of the film definitely still hold up today. It’s no surprise that Rain Man has been released on Blu-ray.

In Rain Man, Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) finds out he has a brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), when their father dies and cuts Charlie out of the will. Raymond is an autistic savant living in a mental institution. Thinking he can get half of the money in the will, Charlie abducts Raymond from the institution in Cincinnati, Ohio and takes him to L.A. At first Charlie is constantly annoyed by Raymond, but soon he forms a real connection with his brother.

All the awards the film received were well deserved, and though he didn’t receive an Oscar, Cruise’s acting in the film is also excellent. However, the Blu-ray doesn’t offer as many special features as one would like. There is one commentary with director Barry Levinson, which is insightful and interesting. It is a little sparse, as Levinson leaves long spaces between statements, but most scenes contain at least one interesting tidbit. He talks about shots, various ways in which the story came about or was changed, and other interesting directorial decisions. The commentary is definitely worth a listen.

Article by Scott Deady