---
title: "Rain Man: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/rain-man/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/rain-man"
critics_score: 70
critics_reviews: 7
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Rain Man (1988): what the critics said

Critics' score 70 from 7 reviews: 4 positive, 2 mixed, 1 negative.

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.

## Radio Times — Andrew Collins

Rating 5/5. 

Hoffman's savant is one of cinema's great triumphs: believable, unsentimental and often hilarious, while Cruise's character undergoes the greater emotional arc from selfishness to love. Levinson directs beautifully and the film earned major Oscars.

[Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-zm81ae/rain-man/)

## Empire — Emma Cochrane

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 1 January 2000. 

The critic calls the film a thoughtful and hugely enjoyable classic that changed perceptions of autism. They single out the signature performances by Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise.

[Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/rain-man-review/)

## Los Angeles Times — Sheila Benson

Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 16 December 1988. 

Benson praises the film’s deliberately unsentimental interior journey of self-discovery and the hypnotic, funny performance by Hoffman. She singles out Cruise’s surprisingly mature and authoritative work as the film’s welcome surprise.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-12-16-ca-35-story.html)

## The New York Times — Vincent Canby

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 16 December 1988. 

Canby finds the film an affecting odd-couple road movie in which a hustler and his autistic brother learn they are good for each other. He singles out Dustin Hoffman’s meticulously researched, star-turn performance as the autistic savant Raymond.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/16/movies/review-film-brotherly-love-of-sorts.html)

## Time Out — BC

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 10 September 2012. 

The critic notes the film's thin story and limited dramatic motor but credits Levinson's skill at observing human behaviour for keeping it watchable. Hoffman delivers a self-contained performance while Cruise improves as the hustler brother.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/rain-man)

## The New Yorker — Pauline Kael

Fi1m's normalised score 25/100 (inferred from the text). 30 January 1989. 

Kael dismisses the film as a repetitive one-note acting exercise and sentimental kitsch. She singles out Hoffman’s locked-in, external performance and Levinson’s flaccid direction for particular complaint.

[Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1989/02/06/stunt)

## Eye for Film — Angus Wolfe Murray

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 14 September 2004. 

The critic describes the film as a simple story about two brothers that is neither great nor terrible, but long. He notes Hoffman's performance as an autistic savant raises concerns about portraying disability in a softened, sentimental light while focusing on themes of money and family.

[Read the review](http://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/rain-man-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/rain-man.md