This is another classic movie. I watched it when I was in 1988 and last to last week I watched it after a span of about more than ten years. It had the same effect on me. Amazing !!! The cast mainly held up the movie. Dustin Hoffman steals the show by his personification of an autistic man. Hoffman is so real that you tend to move with the character and the movie. Tom Cruise was okay in his supporting role as Hoffman’s brother.
If you like the movie you would want to see the movie till the end without any commercial breaks and thank God it didn’t have many commercial breaks. We could enjoy the movie!!!
Story
The story is basically about two brothers Raymond (Dustin Hoffman) and Charlie (Tom Cruise). Charlie is into car business and is neck high in debts. He is planning to take a vacation when is informed that his father is dead. The will of his father leaves behind 3 million dollars to his brother Raymond who is autistic and of whom he was not aware of till then. Charlie thinks that he can kidnap his brother who is living in a sanatorium. His plan is to cut a deal of 1.5 million in exchange for his brother. His girlfriend goes along with him but gets disgusted with the way Charlie treats his brother and leaves.
He packs Raymond’s belongings in a small bag and heads for the airport. The trouble starts then. Raymond is scared of flying. Charlie tries convincing Raymond that flying is harmless and it would just take three hours to reach Los Angeles. But Raymond insists with specific details that all the airlines crashed except for Quantis. When Charlie forces him to move Raymond throws a fit.
Charlie is forced to take the car to Los Angeles, which would be taking him three days to reach. The journey by car puts the two brothers in close proximity for more than three days. The journey is full of incidents, which shows the different shades of Raymond’s character. Charlie slowly gets comfortable with his brother and changes his mind about the money, which he was after. He slowly likes his brother Raymond for what he is.
Raymond has a special quality. He is very good with numbers and can do rapid calculations in a matter of seconds. He has a very good memory but he cannot communicate. Charlie is aware of this quality and plans to make some money on cards. They have a stopover at Las Vegas and there they win eighty three thousand dollars by counting cards (according to Raymond). This money helps him to clear his debts. Charlie slowly starts caring for his brother and tries to show him how to have fun, how to laugh at a joke, how to dance, etc. Tom’s girlfriend comes back and they have a nice time in Las Vegas.
Finally, they reach Los Angeles where the question of keeping Raymond with him becomes an issue. He is offered 250, 000 dollars as a deal but Charlie refuses this. He just wants to take care of his brother and be with him for the rest of his life.
Charlie is however forcefully convinced by Raymond’s doctor and the lawyers that Raymond is not capable to lead a normal life and they wouldn’t want to risk him having fits which is not good for him.
Charlie lets him go and promises to visit him very often. Raymond goes back to where he came from. Charlie establishes a connection with his brother and well he ends up feeling like he has a purpose in life.
Tom Cruise does not have too much to do though he has equal coverage along with Hoffman all along the movie. He complements Hoffman’s character well.
Its amazing to see Dustin Hoffman in his role. A true actor in the real sense of word. His role makes us believe in that character. Its no surprise that he won an Oscar for this movie !!! This role would have challenged any actor and its one of the best performances by Hoffman.
Do check this movie out. It’s being shown in Zee MGM. Since Oscar fever is on you should be able to catch it in any of the movie channels.