Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 95

F8 Austin American-Statesman Friday, December 16, 1988 jRain Man9 showers good feeling Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise excel in subtle story of understanding 2130 8. Conartu Open II M2-57IQ CORPORATE ASSETS INSIDE MARILYN "Largest Adult Screen 35mm" 1 (X) ADULT ONLY (X) VHS SALES jW'r111 1 By Patrick Taggart American-Statesman Staff Roviovv pPUh4CI I 9:45 I B.IKMI WMlwMI LM CM ni.iib.ii.iiil.ii.b.iii mmum II drlvs you ln.anl SIUM H.tttt OUdnigM Adml.itan HI. RAIN MAN Or You Might Fall Out Of Your Chair From Laughing So Hard. Insane!" "The nonstop laugh two thumbs -Gene Siskel, EBERT "Moviegoers will scrape themselves off the floor laughing" -Mike Clark, USA TODAY "Completely dizzy, crazy, wacko, irreverent." -Roger Ebert, SISKEL EBERT vv. funny at times The one thing you don't expect Rain Man to.

be is unsentimental. Here we are, after all, in the cozy lap of the holiday season, our spirits warmed by cheery comedies like Twins and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and the umpteenth viewing of It's a Wonderful Life on television. Along comes this movie about a shallow hustler and his autistic brother, in which we just know that the calculating, seemingly unfeeling wretch will be emotionally liberated and transformed by intimate human contact with a person no one can reach. Don't forget that the director, Barry Levin-son, has directed movies of enormous sentimentality, especially The Natural and last season's Good Morning, Vietnam. The rub, and it's one that very nearly makes Rain Man a masterwork, is that Levinson also knows how to restrain sentimentality to richen the underlying emotions.

Rain Man is regulated so well in its emotional and psychological currents that many viewers may not be conscious of how deeply involved they are until it is over. In other words, how wonderful to have a really fine film in town, one that wins love and loyalty by honest drama enacted in a real world. There is at least one concession to Hollywood. That is that in broad outline Rain Man is a road movie and a kind of buddy film. When we meet him, Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is desperately trying to sell European sports cars financed with borrowed money.

The lenders want their money and the buyers want their cars or their down payments. There's a problem: In putting together the shaky deal, Charlie forgot to get Environmental Protection Agency approval for the cars. News comes that his father, with whom he has had no close contact since his teen years, Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino Rating: profanity Theaters: Westgate 8, Riverside 8, North-cross 6, Lincoln, Round Rock 8, Movies 12 Critic's rating: trust, cough up what he feels is his rightful half of the inheritance. This begins a long road adventure in which Charlie drives Raymond from the hospital in Cincinnati to his home in Los Angeles. The younger man is angered and frustrated by his brother's strangely insular behavior, his obsession with trivia and his nervous obedience to schedule.

Raymond goes nuts if he doesn't have cheese balls, and toothpicks with which to eat them. He must and I mean must watch Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and People's Court. But it is Charlie's inability to deal with Raymond that paves the road to his salvation. Raymond is the only person who does not respond to Charlie's manipulation, and the experience proves to be humbling and profoundly intimate. Levinson treats the Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass script with great tenderness, avoiding grandstand sentimentality while making sure that the messages are conveyed.

Sometimes he does this with wonderful, touching subtlety. As for the performances, Cruise continues to be an excellent actor in films for which he isn't made to perform a crude caricature of himself (as in Top Gun, Cocktail). For Hoffman, it's another of his daring, letter-perfect performances that will surely be remembered at awards time. The whole enterprise deserves a big bear hug. notto -Janet Maslin.

THE NEW YORK TIMES "Funniest movie of the year. xThA KlnlA Pirn' ftrlftWn(N 2 I IIC Dustin Hoffman plays the autistic brother of a hustler (Tom Cruise) In Rain Man. has died. Dad's fortune, about $3 million, has been placed in trust for the care of his older brother Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), who is autistic and lives in an institution. Charlie is stunned and furious.

Stunned because he didn't know he had a brother Raymond was moved out of the family home when Charlie was 2 and furious because the family fortune is going to someone who has no use for money. Indeed, Raymond hasn't the vaguest idea what money is about. What Raymond does know about is numbers. He has a flawless memory for vast quantities of them more, probably, than the computer on which this is written. Charlie likes numbers, too, but only when they follow dollar signs.

With the help of his neglected girlfriend (Valeria Golino), Charlie effectively kidnaps Raymond and demands that the head of the institution, who controls the hugely -Dave Kehr, CHICAGO TRIBUNE mm VIDEO 95 mini nf 19 -V VHSor Bridge Creek 8 S.E. Corner of I-35 183 Located Behind Chili's 467-9772 Bargain Matioees $3.00 Before 6 p.m. Student Prices $3 with I.D. Mon. thru Thurs.

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IH-SS OPEN 24 MRS. 4720310 NOW SHOWING ft I SIDE-SPLITTING CQMEU MTY TO D0NT WANT TO LOVE IP llTiljVJI4HiPJ DOORS OPEN 11:45 AM fvnV3pI.snr251-7773l IH-35 AND FM 1825 THX SOUND AND ULTRA-STEREO HIGH BACK ROCKERS t3ic JrraKSSSSV' CUPHOLDER ARMRESTS Jjjg JQ3 jj jj DUSTIPI HOFFMAN CI tCHXunifoea Klin TOM CRUISE t) TWfeSS RAIN fc ISC- mF MAN B-rjvl THX THX An Adventure In The Cjl Land Of The Dinosaur. STEVE MARTIN im BEF0M1ME 1 MY o.n r-j i STEPMOTHER WA A s-Qa Ti 12 30-3 00-5 30 8 00-10 1S IJ ll II 1Z.30-3.00-5.30-8.00-10:15 gng TIIEllAICED GUM coccdn Tequila L4-4 THE RETURN Of TCrwrvi I A'j Journey Home. E3 ljUJKJorj (1 Hesback! Andtfiistime CKIDSW ws truest saves Pf 715 -43 IS "itirtrtt A CLASSIC" USA TODAY, Donna Brltt "BILLY JOEL IS BETTE MIDLER IS DIVINE AS CHEECH MARIN MAKES US LAUGH." ABC RADIO NETWORK, Joanna Langfield PICTURES ,0 PRESENTS mm ilia-' himmm ii'i'iii'iii'iiiti'tfCHiLpsniyB AT ffrifiSiflS' 2120 Mays 388-2848 BILL MURRAY SCR DUG ED i hai fif nnnm MhiA i mm tin 1 1 it mn ii mm mm iwiaii mm mm mm im mm mm -mm wmmwm Schwarzenegger devito Meet The Winners TWflUS Dim Rotten Scoundrels I Tjff land I THE 1 dfitf Before rw. TIME El -7V' iW 6 SCROOGED Smp-Brt DQO Bill Murray 8.18 OUYER TO RAIN MAN COCQDN fc0jgjBag0jjg''BBa0jaVBBaaaaB4aBa8kaa Sriunrftmrtt PO i3iMiimioirMumwB GOI ft AL AUDI NCiSl mmmmwiwikhkw; PMwrjitiiwfuiwitsiii oiJiai A niMlwcv MjdiHd Vim Mm nfHHtt EiS3 130.2:45 MimiiLuH CSSSSl i LHX 9:40 PtiVr0 Mf mrf "1 tnmzxrii 10:15 9:15 OLstEJSSo 8TERE0 ULTRA STEREO 3 ULTRA 8TERE0 STEREO.