MGM released Rain Man to theaters on December 16, 1988; grossing $412.8M worldwide. Barry Levinson directs the film starring Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, and Valeria Golino. Rain Man Movie Summary Rain Man is a story about Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise). Before Rain Main, Cruise played Brian Flanagan in Cocktail, Vincent in the Color of Money, and Maverick in Top Gun. In the words of Archie Bunker, he played a mick, a wop, and a regular American. Aside from showing virtuosity with ethnically diverse characters, in 1988 Cruise was the quintessential Hollywood matinee idol. He was also a victim of typecasting. It seemed that Hollywood wanted Cruise to reprise his role in Risky Business interminably; the young, handsome, cocky, self-centered hustler who must desperately raise a lot of money. For his role in Rain Man, Cruise shows off his range; playing a character that’s a departure from his Hollywood typecasting; one as a young, handsome, cocky, self-centered hustler who must desperately raise a lot of money. Now about Charlie Babbitt’s back story: Charlie’s mother died when he was two; his father Sanford never remarried, and he was very distant with his son. At the age of 16, Charlie took his father’s beloved 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible without permission. Charlie Babbitt claimed that he earned the clandestine joyride by getting straight A’s. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Please let us know what you think of the film in the comments section, and rate this movie from one to five stars below as well. If there is a film you’d like us to review, send us an email at comments@moviehousememories.com with your name, location, and film choice. And finally, if you are of the social media persuasion, you can look the MHM Podcast Network up on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and if you do, please give us a follow when you find us. Disclaimer This podcast is intended for entertainment and information purposes only. The theme music for Lunchtime Movie Review, Fireworks is provided courtesy of Alexander Nakarada at serpentsoundstudios.com under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. All original content of this podcast is the intellectual property of Lunchtime Movie Review, the MHM Podcast Network, and Fuzzy Bunny Slippers Entertainment LLC unless otherwise noted. This post contains affiliate links that will take you to Amazon.com and/or the iTunes Store. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. Advertisers and affiliate partnerships do not influence our content. For more information, please read our Terms of Use about the inclusion of affiliate links on this site.