Classic Special Needs Movie
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
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