Rain Man


Director: Barry Levinson
Writter: Barry Morrow (story), Ronald Bass (screenplay)
Tom Plays: Charles Sanford ‘Charlie’ Babbitt
Status: ON DVD

Plot

Selfish yuppie Charlie Babbitt’s father left a fortune to his savant brother Raymond and a pittance to Charlie; they travel cross-country.

Goofs

Continuity: The salt and pepper shakers at the first diner.

Continuity: In Raymond’s final evaluation scene, the tray of glasses in the middle of the table moves back and forth.

Crew or equipment visible: Reflection of crew members on the hood of the Buick when Raymond is about to drive in Las Vegas.

Continuity: When Susanna gets mad at Charlie and storms out of the tub, Charlie’s sweats have a different pattern of water splashes than when she goes out the door.

Revealing mistakes: When Charlie, Raymond, Susanna are at the first hotel and Susanna gets mad and storms out. When she slams the door it is obvious that it is a set because of the way the door and walls wobble.

Continuity: In the laundromat the dryer on the left of Raymond is closed/open between shots.

Factual errors: There have been eight fatal crashes involving QANTAS aircraft (all of them between 1927 and 1951).

Continuity: Raymond takes pictures throughout the movie with a 126 film camera. We see, under the credits, the pictures he had taken and they are all rectangular in shape, when 126 film makes square pictures.

Continuity: When railing about having to buy his underwear at a certain Kmart store in Cincinnati, Raymond gives two different addresses for the same store – 200 Oak and 400 Oak.

Plot holes: According to Raymond’s rigidly set routines, he must watch “People’s Court” every day at the same time. But while traveling on the road, this is theoretically impossible, since “The People’s Court” aired in syndication – different cities aired the show at different times. (Also, crossing three time zones didn’t seem to affect his schedule in any way either.)

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): While watching Charlie play blackjack, one of the casino security officers says that “no one can count through a six deck shoe”. In fact, this is quite possible for someone with just basic math skills to do using the “hi-lo” counting method. A security officer of any major casino should know this.

Factual errors: The story line states that 8,095 Buick Roadmaster Convertibles were made for 1949. This incorrect; the actual total is 8,244.

Crew or equipment visible: When Charlie, Raymond and Susanna are in the casino on the way to Raymond’s date, just before Charlie is asked to see head of security you can see in the mirrored pillar the reflection of a woman motioning extras to walk past the camera.

Continuity: At the blackjack table after Raymond “takes” Charlie’s queen, Charlie doubles down with more chips than he originally bet. Double down bets are limited to the amount the player bet originally; you can double down for less than you originally bet, but never for more.

Factual errors: While in the doctor’s office, Raymond gives the square root of 2130 as 46.15192304. The square root of 2130, however, is irrational and therefore never repeats its pattern or terminates. Therefore, if Raymond were able to do square root approximations in his head (and I guess that’s possible for someone if his ability), he would not have truncated the decimal where the calculator did.

Errors in geography: Charlie and Raymond are driving east down Columbia Parkway. They are supposed to be heading to California. California is west. Charlie and Raymond are driving in the wrong direction.

Trivia

The script originally had Raymond as happy and friendly, but after an initial reading Dustin Hoffman successfully lobbied for Raymond to be a withdrawn autistic.

Steven Spielberg considered directing. He began making notes in order to prepare for the project. The reason he backed out is because his friend George Lucas needed him to start work on the third Indiana Jones film. So Spielberg left the project and gave his notes to Barry Levinson.

After being interviewed by the psychiatrist, Raymond (Hoffman) leans his head against Charlie’s and says “My main man Charlie”. This was unscripted, and improvised by Hoffman.

Raymond states that his underwear is from the K-Mart on Oak and Burnett. This address is actually for the Vernon Manor Hotel in Cincinnati, the hotel where Charlie, Raymond and Suzanna stay in the beginning of the movie.

Raymond memorizes a phone book up to the names Marsha and William Gottsegen — Dustin Hoffman’s real-life in-laws.

For in-flight viewing, several airlines deleted the sequence in which Raymond reels off statistics on airline accidents.

Early in the film, when the lawyer is reading the will to Charlie, Charlie says “I definitely got the rose bushes, I have definitely got the rose bushes.” This foreshadows Raymond’s extensive use of the word “definitely” later on.

Jake Hoffman, the boy at the pancake counter, is Dustin Hoffman’s son.

Dustin Hoffman originally wanted Bill Murray to play Charlie.

Hoffman was originally supposed to play Charlie, but he wanted to play Raymond. Raymond was also supposed to be mentally retarded, but Hoffman changed it to an autistic savant.

Hoffman fought for the ending where Raymond goes back to Wallbrook, even though the screenwriters both wanted him to end up with Charlie. Hoffman thought it wouldn’t be true to Raymond’s character if they had him stay.

J.T. Walsh was originally supposed to play the psychiatrist at the end of the movie. When he couldn’t, Levinson filled in, after Hoffman suggested it. Levinson said if he didn’t like the way it looked, he would have someone else film it. He ad-libbed repeatedly to “push Cruise’s buttons”.

The script was originally written with Dennis Quaid and Randy Quaid in mind.

Jack Nicholson turned down the part of Raymond.

“Wallbrook” is actually Saint Anne’s, a convent that houses over 200 nuns.

Cruise’s wearing Ray Bans boosted sales of that style 15%.

During the shooting of the casino scenes, Hoffman would go off and play games like blackjack. After production was halted to look for him, someone was assigned to watch him during takes.

Cruise always wanted to rehearse while filming. He and Hoffman rehearsed while driving to the set, and in their trailers during takes. They frequently switched roles.

The scene in the airport was cut by most airlines on their plane trips… except Qantas. They even promoted one of the movie’s writers to first class once when he traveled on their airline.

Levinson turned down the movie when it was first offered to him. He made Good Morning, Vietnam instead. After several directors backed out later, however, he took it on.

The Amarillo, Texas motel scene was actually filmed at the Big 8 Motel in El Reno, Oklahoma. The motel maintains a sign used in the film that reads: “Amarillo’s Finest.” Guests sometimes request to stay in the same room where Raymond and Charlie stayed, room #117.

The character of Charlie Babbitt was originally written as a 56-year-old.

The movie playing on the TV when Raymond walks in on Charlie and Susanna’s lovemaking is Sweet Smell of Success.

Barry Levinson admitted that Ray’s comment about Qantas being the only aircraft company to never have had a fatal crash was made up, and that he didn’t know if this was true. In reality, Qantas has had eight crashes, all prior to the making of the film, but they were all propeller-driven planes, not jets.

The radio station slogan that Raymond is so fond of repeating, “97X Bam! – The future of rock and roll”, is from a real independent Ohio radio station, WOXY. The station still fields questions about the movie.

During filming, Dustin Hoffman was unsure of the film’s potential and his own performance. Three weeks into the project, Hoffman wanted out, telling director Barry Levinson, “Get Richard Dreyfuss, get somebody, Barry, because this is the worst work of my life.” Hoffman would nab his second Best Actor Oscar for his work.

During filmimg, both Hoffman and Cruise doubted the movie’s potential and jokingly called it, “Two Schmucks in a Car”.

Director Cameo: [Barry Levinson] psychiatrist determining if Raymond should stay with Charlie or not.

Reportedly one of Princess Diana’s favorite films.

Director Trademark: [Barry Levinson] Ralph Tabakin (Shift Boss) has appeared in every Levinson picture from Diner to Liberty Heights.

Dustin Hoffman was originally to play the part of Charlie Babbit, but after being moved to tears seeing a “savant” named Leslie Lemke (who is blind, retarded, and has cerebral palsy) play full concertos on the piano by ear, he decided to play the part of Raymond instead.

In one scene, Raymond rattles off the lifetime statistics of former Cincinnati Reds first baseman Ted Kluszewski, during which he says “traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Harry ‘Suitcase’ Simpson.” This is not correct. Kluszewski was traded from the Reds to the Pirates for Dee Fondy; he was later traded from the Pirates to the White Sox for Suitcase Simpson.

The elderly man in the waiting room who talks on and on about the Pony Express is Bryon P. Caunar, an 89-year-old local who was in the waiting room when the crew arrived to film there. He got to talking on his favorite subject, the Pony Express, and director Barry Levinson got such a kick out of it that he let Caunar keep on talking as the cameras rolled; all his dialog was spontaneous and not scripted.

The building in the back of the “tree lined” path is actually a former seminary and is now a retirement center for Catholic priests in West-Central Ohio.

The script originally called for two farm kids, but after Catherine Dougherty brought six of her seven sons to audition for the part, the script was re-written to include the six boys. The boys also have an older brother and one younger sister.

The character of Raymond Babbitt was inspired by real-life American savant Kim Peek, born 1952, whom Rain Man writer Barry Morrow first met in 1986. When Barry Morrow won an Oscar for the screenplay of “Rain Man” in 1989, he gave his Oscar trophy to Kim Peek.

Holds the unique distinction of being the only film to have won the Berlin Film Festival Golden Bear and a best picture Academy Award.

Dustin Hoffman spent a lot of time with Kim Peek, who inspired the character and this movie. Being so impressed with Mr. Peek, he made his caretaker promise that he would “share [Kim] with the world.” Since then Kim Peek has been going all over the world impressing people with his incredible memory and ability to recall minute details from centuries of history.

Quotes

Susanna: You use me, you use Raymond, you use everybody.
Charlie: Using Raymond? Hey Raymond, am I using you? Am I using you Raymond?
Raymond: Yeah.
Charlie: Shut up! He is answering a question from a half hour ago!

[Raymond has jumped in the car with Susanna] Charlie: Hey, who is this guy?
Susanna: He just jumped in the car.
Charlie: Yeah well he can jump out. Come on!
Raymond: I’m an excellent driver.
Charlie: That’s good. Come on! Susanna, why’d you let him get in this car? It’s not a toy.
Susanna: He says he drives this car.
Raymond: Dad lets me drive slow on the driveway every Saturday. ‘Course the seats were originally brown leather now they’re a pitiful red.
Charlie: [surprised] Hey, these seats were brown leather. You know this car?
Raymond: I know this car.
Charlie: How do you know this car?
Raymond: It’s a 1949 Buick Roadmaster. Straight 8. Fireball 8. Only 8,985 production models. Dad lets me drive slow on the driveway. But not on Monday, definitely not on Monday.
Charlie: Who’s your dad?
Raymond: Sanford Babbitt. 10961 Beachcrest Street, Cincinnati Ohio.
Charlie: That’s my address. Hey, who’s your mother?
Raymond: Eleanor Babbitt. Died January 5, 1965 after short and sudden illness.
Charlie: Who the hell are you?
Raymond: Uh oh, fifteen minutes to Judge Wapner.
[Raymond proceeds back to Walbrook, ignoring Charlie] Charlie: Wait, I wanna ask you a question! Hey! Dr. Bruner, who is he?
Dr. Bruner: Raymond is your brother.

[last lines] [Raymond is boarding a train back to Walbrook] Raymond: ‘Course, three minutes to Wapner.
Charlie: You’ll make it.
Raymond: Yeah.

[In a telephone booth with the door closed] Raymond: Uh oh fart. Uh oh fart.
Charlie: Did you fart, Ray? Did you fucking fart?
Raymond: Fart.
Charlie: [Trying unsuccessfully to open the door] How can you stand that?
Raymond: I don’t mind it.
Charlie: How can you stand it?
Raymond: Ten minutes to Wapner. We’re definitely locked in this box with no TV.

Raymond: That’s my pen. That’s definitely my book.
Charlie: Well taking your book is not a serious injury!
Raymond: Serious injury book is a red book, that book is blue.
Charlie: Well forgive me, I’ve lost my secret decoder ring!

[In a phone booth] Raymond: It’s definitely very small in here
[Tries to leave] Charlie: Small, and safe. Don’t wanna miss the party. You know that, there’s a party in your honor Ray. When we get to LA, there’ll be a little custody hearing. Lawyers are setting it up right now. Know why there’s a party for you? Because you’re the $3,000,000 man.

Charlie: [talking to the woman who answers the door] I’m sorry ma’am, I lied to you. I’m very sorry about that. That man right there is my brother and if he doesn’t get to watch ‘People’s Court’ in about 30 seconds, he’s gonna throw a fit right here on your porch. Now you can help me or you can stand there and watch it happen.

Raymond: Of course I don’t have my underwear. I’m definitely not wearing my underwear.
Charlie: I gave you a fresh pair of mine to wear. Where are they?
Raymond: They’re in the pocket of my jacket. Here.
Charlie: I don’t want them back.
Raymond: These are not boxer shorts. Mine are boxer shorts. These are Hanes 32.
Charlie: Underwear is underwear, Ray.
Raymond: My boxer shorts have my name and it says Raymond.
Charlie: All right, when we pass the store, we’ll pick you up a pair of boxer shorts.
Raymond: I get my boxer shorts at K-Mart in Cincinnati.
Charlie: We’re not going back to Cincinnati, Ray, so don’t even start with that.

Raymond: Gotta get my boxer shorts at K-Mart.
Charlie: [Pulls over, gets out of the car and yells] WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE WHERE YOU BUY UNDERWEAR? WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE? UNDERWEAR IS UNDERWEAR! IT IS UNDERWEAR WHEREVER YOU BUY IT! IN CINCINNATI OR WHEREVER!
Raymond: K-Mart!
Charlie: You know what I think, Ray? I think this autism is a bunch of shit! Because you can’t tell me that you’re not in there somewhere!
Raymond: Boxer shorts. K-Mart!

[Ray and Charlie are sitting at a duck pond. Ray is staring off into space] Charlie: Raymond, what are you looking at? The ducks are over here. What are you looking at?
Raymond: I don’t know.

Raymond: Lights out at eleven.
Charlie: Yeah well new rules.

Charlie: Listen, Ray, our dad died, that means he’s not with us anymore. Did they tell you about that?
Raymond: I don’t know.
Charlie: You don’t know if they told you or you don’t know what death is?
Raymond: I don’t know.

Charlie: Ray, all airlines have crashed at one time or another, that doesn’t mean that they are not safe.
Raymond: QANTAS. QANTAS never crashed.
Charlie: QANTAS?
Raymond: Never crashed.
Charlie: Oh that’s gonna do me a lot of good because QANTAS doesn’t fly to Los Angeles out of Cincinnati, you have to get to Melbourne! Melbourne, Australia in order to get the plane that flies to Los Angeles!

[Raymond is boarding a train back to Walbrook] Raymond: ‘Course it’s 10 minutes to Wapner.
Charlie: You’ll make it.
Raymond: Yeah.

[Location: on a back road, nineteen minutes to eleven o’clock] Charlie: We’re not in the air, we’re not on the highway, I’m on some shit secondary road. I gotta make up some time. I have to get to LA, I should’ve been there this afternoon, my business needs me. I gotta make up some time.
Raymond: Definitely watch TV but you have to be in bed at eleven. Lights out at eleven.
Charlie: Forget it.
Raymond: Uh oh, nineteen minutes to eleven.

Raymond: I’m an excellent driver.
Charlie: When did you drive?
Raymond: I drove slow on the driveway when my dad came to Walbrook.
Charlie: Was Dad in the car?
Raymond: Yeah.
Charlie: I’ll have to let you drive sometime.
[Raymond grabs the wheel and nearly steers them into an oncoming car] Charlie: Raymond, you NEVER! NEVER touch the steering wheel when I’m driving. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?

Charlie: Hey Raymond, remember today when the doctor was asking you those questions? How’d you know the answers?
Raymond: [while brushing his teeth at the same time, Charlie can’t make out what he said] I see it.
Charlie: What? Stop that for a second.
Raymond: I see it.
Charlie: Raymond!
[Grabs tooth brush from him] Charlie: When I say stop it, why don’t you stop it? Why do you always have to act like an idiot?
[Raymond begins to laugh] Charlie: You think that’s funny?
Raymond: Yeah funny Rain Man, funny teeth.
Charlie: What’d you say? Funny teeth? What?
Raymond: I didn’t say funny teeth, funny Rain Man.
Charlie: You? You’re the Rain Man?

Charlie: Who took this picture?
Raymond: D-A-D.
Charlie: And you lived with us?
Raymond: Yeah, 10962 Beachcrest Street, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Charlie: When did you leave?
Raymond: January 12, 1965. Very snowy that day. 7.2 inches of snow that day.
Charlie: Just after Mom died.
Raymond: Yeah Mom died January 5, 1965.
Charlie: You remember that day. Was I there? Where was I?
Raymond: You were in the window. You waved to me, “Bye bye Rain Man”, “Bye bye.”

Charlie: I’m gonna let ya’ in on a little secret, Ray. K-Mart sucks.

Sally Dibbs: Good Morning! Coffee?
Raymond: [looks at her nametag] Sally Dibbs, Dibbs Sally. 461-0192.
Sally Dibbs: How did you know my phone number?
Charlie: How did you know that?
Raymond: You said read the telephone book last night. Dibbs Sally. 461-0192.
Charlie: He, uh, remembers things. Little things sometimes.
Sally Dibbs: Very clever boys. I’ll be right back.

Dr. Bruner: Raymond, wouldn’t you feel more relaxed in your favorite K-Mart clothes?
Charlie: Tell him, Ray.
Raymond: K-Mart sucks.
Dr. Bruner: Oh, I see.

Charlie: What you have to understand is, four days ago he was only my brother in name. And this morning we had pancakes.

Raymond: Of course you can’t have pancakes without maple syrup.
Charlie: You bet your butt.
Raymond: Bet your butt.

Charlie: I’m gonna go take a celebration piss.

Charlie: This is a good one. We don’t go out when it rains, this is a real good one. I hope you appreciate this because my business is going down the fucking toilet. I should be in L.A., instead I’m in the Honeymoon Haven motel in Bumblefuck, Missouri because you won’t go out when it rains. Mystifying. Fucking mystifying.

Raymond: 97X, bam! The future of rock ‘n’ roll. 97X, bam! The future of rock ‘n’ roll. 97X, bam! The future of rock ‘n’ roll.
Charlie: Ray, enough already! Change the channel.
Raymond: 97X, bam! The future of rock ‘n’ roll. 97X, bam! The future of rock ‘n’ roll.

Raymond: Maple syrup is supposed to be on the table before the pancakes.
Charlie: We haven’t ordered yet, Ray.
Raymond: Of course when they bring the maple syrup after the pancakes, it’ll definitely be too late.
Charlie: How is that gonna be too late? We haven’t ordered the pancakes yet.
Raymond: We’re gonna be here the entire morning with no maple syrup and no – no toothpicks, I’m definitely, definitely not gonna have my pancakes w-with…
[Charlie grabs him by the neck] Raymond: OW!
Charlie: Don’t make a scene!
Raymond: OW!
Charlie: Stop acting like a fucking retard.
Raymond: UH-OH!
[Pulls out red book and writes in it] Charlie: What are you writing?… What the fuck is this? “Serious Injury List”? *Serious* injury list? Are you fucking kidding me?
Raymond: Number eighteen in 1988, Charlie Babbitt squeezed and pulled and hurt my neck in 1988.
Charlie: Squeezed and pulled and hurt your neck in 1988?

[in a pancake restaurant] Raymond: Maple syrup is supposed to be on the table before the pancakes.
Charlie: Ray.
Raymond: Yeah?
Charlie: [Presents a container of maple syrup] Ta da.
Raymond: Ha ha. Charlie Babbitt made a joke.

[Raymond doesn’t want to go outside when it rains] Charlie: Hey, Ray, you take a shower right?
Raymond: Yeah.
Charlie: Well the rain is a lot like the shower, you get a little wet. What do you say, Ray? What do you say?
Raymond: Of course the shower is in the bathroom.
Charlie: That’s the end of that conversation.

[Raymond blows their ruse to get into a farmhouse to watch The People’s Court] Charlie: That’s it. You blew it. You don’t get to see your program. Finished.
Raymond: One minute to Wapner.
Charlie: Yes, one minute to Wapner. I had you in there, Ray! You were in there! The defendant, the plaintiff, you had it all. They are in there making legal history. *Legal history!*

[in a pancake restaurant] Charlie: Okay, Ray, we’ve got blueberry, buckwheat, all flavors, what kind do you want?
Raymond: Pancakes.
Charlie: I know, but what kind?
Raymond: Pancakes.

[Raymond is reciting Abbott and Costello’s Who’s on First Base skit] Charlie: Ray, you’re never gonna solve it. It’s not a riddle because Who *is* on first base. That’s a joke, Ray, it’s comedy, but when you do it you’re not funny. You’re like the comedy of Abbott and Abbott.

John Mooney: Are you disappointed?
Charlie: Disappointed? Why should I be disappointed? I got rose bushes didn’t I? I got a used car, didn’t I? This other guy, what’d you call him?
John Mooney: The beneficiary.
Charlie: Yeah him, he got $3,000,000 but he didn’t get the rose bushes. I got the rose bushes. I definitely got the rose bushes. Those are rose bushes!
John Mooney: Mr. Babbitt, there’s no reason to…
Charlie: To what? To get upset? If there is a hell, sir, my father is in it and he is looking up right now and he is laughing his ass off. Sanford Babbitt, you wanna be that guy’s son for five minutes? I mean did you hear that letter? Were you listening?
John Mooney: Yes I was. Were you?
Charlie: Um, no, can you repeat it because I can’t believe my fucking ears.

Charlie: [Raymond making remarks about going to Cincinnati to get underwear] Ray, did you fucking hear what I said? SHUT UP!

[Raymond is afraid of riding in a car on the freeway] Charlie: Hey Ray, I got a great idea. Stay in front of the car until we get off the exit, you’ll get in and we’ll take a not so dangerous road, whatever that might me. Is that an idea?
Raymond: Yeah.
Charlie: Give me five, that’s a great idea. Give me five.
[Raymond doesn’t comply so Charlie jogs back to the car] Charlie: This guy’s a fucking fruit cake.

Raymond: ‘Course I got Jeopardy! at five o’clock. I watch Jeopardy!
Charlie: Don’t start with that, Ray.

Charlie: That’s amazing. He should work for NASA or something like that.
Doctor: Ray, if you had a dollar and you spent fifty cents, how much would you have left over?
Raymond: About seventy.
Doctor: Seventy cents?
Raymond: Seventy cents.
Charlie: So much for the NASA idea.
Raymond: [to Charlie] K-Mart, we should go to K-Mart. 400 Oak Street.
Charlie: What did I tell you? After this!

Charlie: You’ve got a date, Ray, you’re gonna go dancing.
Raymond: Yeah.
Charlie: You know how to dance, Ray?
Raymond: No.
Charlie: I’ll have to teach you sometime.
Raymond: Definitely have to dance on my date. Have to learn how to dance. Definitely. Now.
Charlie: Ray, you’re not gonna have to dance, but I will teach you sometime.
Raymond: Definitely have to dance with Iris.
Charlie: Sorry I even brought this up. You’re right, Ray, you got a date with the only famous dancing hooker in Las Vegas.

Charlie: $200 is about to go to the shit house and Lenny doesn’t wanna answer the phone!

Charlie: I’ll tell you a story about my father, that car in the garage, was off limits to me. He said it was a classic, it demands respect. One day, I’m a sophomore in high school, I bring home a report card, it’s almost all A’s so I go to the old man, ask him if I can take the car out as sort of a victory drive. He says no. So I stole the keys and snuck it out.
Susanna: You took the car with no permission? Why?
Charlie: Because I deserved it! Nothing I did was ever good enough for this guy. Don’t you understand, We’re on Columbia Parkway, four kids, and we get pulled over.
Susanna: Accident? What is pulled over?
Charlie: You know, siren, police. Can I finish? Okay so we’re taken to jail. The other kids’ fathers bail them out, mine left me there for two days.
Susanna: He left you in prison for two days? Were you scared?
Charlie: Yeah.

Susanna: You have his money.
Charlie: HIS money? That man was my father too, what about my fuckin’ half? Where’s my fuckin’ half? I’m entitled to that money, Goddammit!

Lenny: Charlie, where the hell have you been? I’ve been waiting by this phone for 3 hours man.
Charlie: Take it easy, I was just buying some clothes.
Lenny: Charlie we are in serious trouble. Serious trouble and you’re buying clothes.
Charlie: What trouble?
Lenny: The cars. The cars are gone, the buyers want their deposits back, they all do. That’s eighty thou, Charlie.
Charlie: $80,000. I don’t have it.
Lenny: You gotta pay these people or we’re out of business! What am I gonna tell them?
Charlie: I don’t know.
[Storms about the desert then yells] Charlie: SON OF A BITCH! SON OF A BITCH!

[Charlie is pulling Raymond’s books off the shelves, leaving Raymond nervous] Charlie: You read The Twelth Night?
Raymond: I don’t know. V-E-R-N.
Charlie: You read Macbeth?
Raymond: Yes.
Charlie: So you read all these stories and you don’t know if you read the book?

Charlie: He’s not crazy, he’s not retarded but he’s here.
Dr. Bruner: He’s an autistic savant. People like him used to be called idiot savants. There’s certain deficiencies, certain abilities that impairs him.
Charlie: So he’s retarded.
Dr. Bruner: Autistic. There’s certain routines, rituals that he follows.
Charlie: Rituals, I like that.
Dr. Bruner: The way he eats, sleeps, walks, talks, uses the bathroom. It’s all he has to protect himself. Any break from this routine leaves him terrified.

Raymond: 12:30 is lunch.
Charlie: What do you want?
Raymond: Wednesday is fish sticks. Green lime jello for dessert.
Charlie: You want another apple juice?
Raymond: No, orange soda. Uh oh, it’s 12:31.

[after Ray spills a box of toothpicks on the floor] Raymond: 82, 82, 82.
Charlie: 82 what?
Raymond: Toothpicks.
Charlie: There’s a lot more than 82 toothpicks, Ray.
Raymond: 246 total.
Charlie: How many?
Sally Dibbs: 250.
Charlie: Pretty close.
Sally Dibbs: There’s four left in the box.

Charlie: Now casinos have house rules: they don’t like to lose. So you never show that you’re counting cards. That is *the* cardinal sin, Ray.
Raymond: Counting cards is bad.
Charlie: Yes.
Raymond: I like to drive slow on the driveway.
Charlie: If you get this right, Ray, you can drive anywhere you want as slow as you want.

Charlie: Rain Man.
Raymond: Yeah?
Charlie: Let’s play some cards!
Raymond: Yeah.

Charlie: Does Raymond know how much money he’s inherited?
Dr. Bruner: No, he doesn’t understand the concept of money.
Charlie: He doesn’t understand the concept of money? He just inherited $3,000,000 and he doesn’t understand the concept of money? Wow, good work, Dad. I’m getting fucking poetic here.

[Raymond is about to go back to Walbrook on a train. He and Charlie are saying goodbye] Raymond: Very shiny train.
Charlie: Yeah, sure is.

Charlie: When I was a little kid and I got scared, the Rain Man would come and sing to me.
Susanna: Rain what?
Charlie: Oh you know, one of those imaginary childhood friends.
Susanna: What happened to him?
Charlie: Nothing, I just grew up.
Susanna: Not so much.

Charlie: I’m going to see you in 2 weeks now how many days is that before we’ll be together?
Raymond: 14 days from today, today’s Wednesday.
Charlie: Hours?
Raymond: 336 hours.
Charlie: Mystifying
Raymond: Course that’s 20,160 minutes. 1,290,600, six hundred seconds.

Charlie: What’s it going to be Ray? What’s it going to be?
Raymond: This is a very dangerous highway.
Charlie: How am I going to get to LA?
Raymond: Course driving your car on this interstate is very dangerous.
Charlie: You want to get off the highway will that make you happy?
Raymond: Yeah.
Charlie: Yeah, well you gotta GET IN THE CAR SO THAT WE CAN GET OFF THE HIGHWAY!
Raymond: Course in 1986 46,400 male drivers were definitely involved in fatal accidents.

[first lines] Charlie: [on telephone] Now it’s five and a half weeks and I’m still sitting on four Lamborghinis that can’t meet spot emissions standards. Now, how many times you wash out with EPA?
Lenny: [on a separate line] Uh, yes sir, they’re finally, uh, clearing EPA; uh, just one or two more days.
Charlie: Three times? You’re really on a roll here, my friend; four cars, three times each – that’s zip for twelve. What are you, a… mechanic, or a NASA engineer? Now listen, now, I told you I’ve never dealt with these Lamborghinis before, and yet you assured me that you can deliver these cars within that time frame. Don’t, don’t tell me that, ’cause I – I’m not even listening.

Media:


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