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Classic Special Needs Movie

Movie: Rain Man
Contributor: Hunter
Rating: 8/10
Let's get one thing straight, Tom Cruise: I watched this movie to see Dustin Hoffman. While I still am not a big fan of yours, you were surprisingly bearable in this movie and played your part quite well. Alright, now that I have introductions out of the way I can move forward with this review. I once again struggled to fall asleep last night, so Netflix came through for me with Rain Man. Similarly, once again, I was not disappointed.

Cruise and Hoffman were both pretty stellar in this movie, but most of my kudos goes to Hoffman, who plays an autistic savant in this motion picture. I find it extremely impressive for an actor to not only portray a character with special needs, but also to portray the character accurately and meaningfully. The rest of the cast was forgettable, but that's not too much of a big deal considering Hoffman and Cruise were such central focal points in this movie. The movie had a well developed plot and a fantastic screenplay (for which the movie won an Oscar).

While the movie is a wonderful story about cultivating relationships and understanding special needs, I feel that it falls short of developing an emotional connection with the viewer. There is such a large initial disconnect between Cruise and Hoffman that, despite the progress they make towards the end of the movie, makes the climax a bit unbelievable as far as plausibleness is concerned. Also, being the music nut that I am, this has to be my least favorite Hans Zimmer movie.

As a budding educator, I thought that this movie was a good glimpse into assisting possible future students who may have a similar special need as Raymond Babbitt. The movie has a happy ending and was ultimately well put-together. Definitely worth watching if you have the time to spare; enjoy Hoffman's Oscar-winning performance!

Written July 31, 2013
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