Rain Man [Levinson 1988]

This is a yarn that contains struggle. Not between two people (brothers Charlie + Raymond) but one of them’s perception, and ultimately his acceptance.

Not everyone makes that journey. Somebody saw this film, wrote a letter, telling director Barry Levinson that “he hoped the little guy would snap out of it”.

This witness saw an entire film about knowing someone’s behavior and limitations and wanted that (fictional) person to act as what he wanted him to be, not for who that person is. He could not accept.

There are two things that shocked the fuck out of me; how concentrated and elegant Tom Cruise’s performance as Charlie is (from dickhead to contemplative), and how there are many little moments of atmosphere and lingering images that cover the film like a warm quilt.

Cruise acts out a man who desperately wants to connect to his new found brother (Raymond~Hoffman). “You are in there somewhere!”. The way he unleashes this energy, from body frame to hands to his vocal tone (and how it is shown) is spectacular. It seems like the right choice the entire film. And it is.

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Nothing moved me greater than the scene in the hotel, where cruise communicates a man who may have sent his brother away, because even though he sang to him, the lost brother was a chance of burning a baby with water.

I looked at Cruise through smudged eyes, as I saw him hang in the air, exist as a man who changed the tides inside him. His face is now an open canvas. Buried memories are coming to the surface, rust and all.

Sunsets. Wall papers. Toothpicks. A car coming down off a crane. Levinson sets up simple and moving visuals that underscore how Raymond sees the world. And slowly, we the audience (or some of us) change how we see and emphasize(oh what a word) with this man and what he is, not what he is not or cannot be.

There are a lot of words, lingo, to describe what Raymond is. There were some from that era, some from this, some will be in the future. But the behavior of acceptance, not having to like or be thrilled with something, but acknowledging it for what it is, not resisting it, is stronger than all those words put together.

An action, persistent and attentive (not dismissive), is the strongest communication. Who cares what in vogue word someone calls another person, as long as that someone recognizes them as a person.

To be accepted is one of the greatest gifts a person can receive, and to accept someone is one of the most moving acts one can give to another.

Charlie gives it to his brother. Without expectation of compensation.

It’s not just good enough, it is enough. From perception to time to care, it is what heals.