Advanced Search >
Help Me Search

Movies

Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores

Wide Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Limited Releases
Now In Theaters

sort by namesort by score

58 (Untitled)
96 35 Shots of Rum
56 Adam
72 Adela
39 Adventures of Power
78 Afghan Star
61 After the Storm
66 Afterschool
xx All the Best
58 American Casino
72 Amreeka
48 Antichrist
73 Araya
62 Art & Copy
55 As Seen Through These Eyes
76 Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86 Beaches of Agnes, The
13 Beautiful Life, A
70 Beeswax
35 Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71 Big Fan
66 Black Dynamite
51 Blind Date
xx Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76 Bliss
35 Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26 Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57 Boys Are Back, The
45 Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81 Bright Star
70 Bronson
45 Burning Plain, The
xx Carriers
55 Casi Divas
57 Chelsea on the Rocks
62 Cloud 9
65 Coco Before Chanel
69 Cold Souls
59 Collapse
44 Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82 Cove, The
75 Crude
82 Damned United, The
67 Departures
xx Dil Bole Hadippa
71 Disgrace
xx Do Knot Disturb
70 Earth Days
24 Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85 Education, An
55 Endgame
xx Eulogy for a Vampire
xx Everyone Else
xx Fatal Promises
56 Fifty Dead Men Walking
62 Five Minutes of Heaven
74 Flame & Citron
49 Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80 Food, Inc.
28 Free Style
xx From Mexico with Love
50 Fuel
25 Gentlemen Broncos
50 Give Me Your Hand
58 Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72 Good Hair
89 Goodbye Solo
52 Grace
66 Harmony and Me
81 Headless Woman, The
xx Heretics, The
63 Horse Boy, The
73 House of the Devil, The
xx How to Seduce Difficult Women
74 Humpday
94 Hurt Locker, The
29 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16 If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75 In Search of Beethoven
83 In the Loop
61 Intimate Enemies
42 Irene in Time
70 It Might Get Loud
46 Killing Kasztner
19 Labor Day
xx Laila's Birthday
41 Little Ashes
41 Little Traitor, The
66 Liverpool
34 Looking for Palladin
80 Lorna's Silence
83 Maid, The
xx Ministers, The
59 More Than a Game
67 Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34 Motherhood
62 My One and Only
xx Mystery Team
48 New York, I Love You
73 Night and Day
66 No Impact Man
47 Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34 Other Man, The
xx Painter Sam Francis, The
54 Paper Heart
xx Paradise
68 Paranormal Activity
68 Paris
44 Peter and Vandy
35 Play the Game
77 Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx Pretty Ugly People
65 Providence Effect, The
76 Rembrandt's J'accuse
69 September Issue, The
79 Serious Man, A
40 Shrink
61 Skin
77 Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx Skiptracers
46 Splinterheads
39 St. Trinian's
89 Still Walking
50 Stoning of Soraya M., The
55 Storm
65 Tetro
70 That Evening Sun
72 Thirst
xx Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61 Trucker
xx Turning Green
83 U2 3D
66 Unmade Beds
66 Unmistaken Child
70 Visual Acoustics
55 Walt & El Grupo
67 Way We Get By, The
69 We Live in Public
64 Wedding Song, The
64 Where is Where?
xx White on Rice
74 Woman in Berlin, A
69 World's Greatest Dad
70 Yes Men Fix the World
69 Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx You, the Living

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Rain Man

EMAILPRINTUnited Artists

Rain Man reviews
65
7.7 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 18 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 23 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >

Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Ronald Bass
Barry Morrow (also story)

Directed by: Barry Levinson

Release Date:
Theatrical: December 16, 1988
DVD: January 1, 2000

Running Time: 133 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R

Starring Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino, Gerald R. Molen, Jack Murdock, and Bonnie Hunt

What begins with a cold-hearted attempt by one man to steal his autistic brother's inheritance evolves into a cross-country odyssey of love, family and self-discovery.

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

USA Today Mike Clark

There've been few screen moments more moving this year than Cruise's initial reaction to his brother's almost superhuman math prowess. [16 Dec 1988]

90

Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson

Somehow, Hoffman makes all this hypnotically interesting, and, through impeccable timing, sometimes terribly funny--a sweet humor which never betrays Raymond's unalterable character. [16 Dec 1988]

90

Newsweek David Ansen

In every detail - the superb soundtrack, the rich cinematography, the dinstinctively edgy editing - Rain Man reveals itself as a movie made with care, smarts, and a refreshing refusal to settle for the unexpected. [19 Dec 1988]

90

Wall Street Journal Julie Salamon

A film that is both touching and generous of spirit - and funny as well. [15 Dec 1988, p.A16(E)]

88

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

How can you make a movie about a man who cannot change, whose whole life is anchored and defended by routine? Few actors could get anywhere with this challenge, and fewer still could absorb and even entertain us with their performance, but Hoffman proves again that he almost seems to thrive on impossible acting challenges.

Read Full Review >
80

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Fortunately, the script by Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow isn't half bad, and both Barry Levinson's direction and the performances are agreeably restrained.

Read Full Review >
75

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The story wanders, the plot twists seem contrived at times, and the emotions are never as intense as they might be. But it highlights yet another facet of Hoffman's talent: a gift for monochrome, of all things! And it has a heart as good as Raymond's own. [30 Dec 1988]

75

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jay Scott

Only after the Hollywood hypnotism wears off is it apparent that Rain Man, fundamentally an artsy sentimentalization of "The Odd Couple," is somewhat less than the sum of its perfect parts.

Read Full Review >
75

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

There is ultimately in Rain Man a soul that emerges. It's not the grand vision found in the great films, but it is a vision nevertheless. [16 Dec 1988]

75

Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr

Though it's well directed, written and performed, Rain Main still slips irreversibly into the so-what category. [16 Dec 1988]

70

TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)

Rain Man rises above the banality of its concept--another buddy movie crossbred with a road picture--to become a genuinely moving and intelligent look at what it means to be human.

Read Full Review >
70

Variety Staff (Not Credited)

It's a mature assignment for Cruise and he's at his best in the darker scenes.

Read Full Review >
60

The New York Times Vincent Canby

In much the way that Raymond stays detached, the performance seems to exist outside the film but, instead of illuminating Rain Man, it upstages the work of everyone else involved. [16 Dec 1988, p.C12]

50

Time Richard Schickel

Rain Man's restraint is, finally, rather like Raymond's gabble. It discourages connections, keeping you out instead of drawing you in. [19 Dec 1998]

50

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Hoffman blows costar Cruise right off the screen...Instead of playing off or with Hoffman (a greenhorn's smartest strategy), Cruise tends to play at him, flailing and swearing like a spoiled, grounded pilot in "Top Gun II."

Read Full Review >
50

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

Cruise is becoming a real star, confident and gleaming. But neither he nor Hoffman nor the cleverness of the director, Barry Levinson, can prevail against a screenplay that has a beginning at the Ohio home, a finish in L.A., and nothing much in between. [9 Jan 1989]

30

Washington Post Hal Hinson

It's Hoffman's failure, though, that sinks the picture. He is working here with his usual meticulousness, but there's no relaxation in his performance, no sense that he has ever merged with his subject, that he has found Raymond's center and is simply acting out of it.

Read Full Review >
30

The New Yorker Pauline Kael

Everything in this movie is fudged ever so humanistically, in a perfuctory, low-pressure way. And the picture has its effectiveness: people are crying at it. Of course they're crying at it - it's a piece of wet kitsch. [6 Feb 1989]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jay H. gave it a7:
Another overrated (but still good) best picture winner. Dustin Hoffman's performance is what really lifts the film up. I am not a fan of Tom Cruise, and felt his wooden and insincere performance brought the film down. Well produced in every way.

Nycole C. gave it a9:
i personally agree that this movie is a great drama. it has a good reality case as in some circumstances this issue does occur and it is very touching. Hoffman's acting is fantastic. Overall a great movie.

Simon S. gave it a10:
I love this movie! So touching, so well made. Cruise and Hoffman feed well off each other, great chemistry.

Riren gave it a9:
Those who negatively criticize Hoffman's performance likely have no experience with idiot savants. Those who negatively criticize Cruise's performance likely don't like him to begin with and don't care what he does. Here we have a bold movie; one where the veteran actor plays distant, and the younger actor must play to him. The characters validate each other's existances like no other pair in any movie, be it drama, romance or comedy. And Rain Man manages to pack a good deal of drama and humor into itself. This is a movie about disability and inability, but it's also about compromise, compassion and humility - each trait leading to the next. It's touching and tender in unfashionable ways. It was about damn time somebody made a movie like this.

Indian gave it a10:
Classic.Hoffman is a genius and Cruise is great.Poignantly funny.Sweet and tender.Realistic.

[Anonymous] gave it an8:
Interesting movie. Anyway, Cruise and hoffman give good performances, especially hoffman, and there's lots of funny parts. Maybe we should all go for a drive across the country. Wish the father/son conflict wasn't left unresolved, and Cruise got his share of the money. The one thing that prevents the movie from feeling complete.

Z R gave it a10:
Loved It.

Read more user comments >

Popular on CBS sites: SEC Football | NFL | Video Game Cheats | iPhone | Video Game Reviews | Notebooks | Antivirus Software

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use