Most critics respond warmly to Rain Man, with praise centred on Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise. Hoffman’s carefully observed performance draws admiration for its humour and restraint, while Cruise receives credit for giving the more emotionally changeable brother a convincing development. The favourable reviews find an affecting story of family and self-discovery, with Barry Levinson’s attention to human behaviour helping the relationship feel persuasive rather than merely sentimental.
The spread is wide, however, and the performances themselves divide opinion. Time Out finds the story thin and short on dramatic momentum, though Levinson keeps it watchable. Eye for Film questions the length and the softened portrayal of disability. The New Yorker supplies the strongest dissent, judging Hoffman’s performance external and repetitive, and Levinson’s direction slack. The central disagreement is over how convincingly the film earns its emotion: what admirers find restrained and moving, detractors find sentimental and laboured.