5 Interesting Facts About the Movie 'Rain Man'

A classic of the late-80s, Rain Man is a movie that not only won over audiences and critics at the time, but continues to endure as a must-watch flick for any serious fan of cinema.

If you’re curious to learn more about the movie, there’s a lot of trivia to bone up on, so let’s uncover a few of the most interesting facts about it.

Tom Cruise had his best and worst awards season

One incredible aspect of Rain Man is not only that it won Best Picture at the Oscars, but that its star Tom Cruise was also in a film which won the top prize at the Razzies in the very same year it was released.

That movie was Cocktail, the much-derided comedy-drama that came out just a few months before Rain Man, and in which Cruise’s performance was deemed so awful that it also earned a nomination for Worst Actor.

More amazing still is the fact that no other actor other than Cruise has ever pulled off this feat; of starring in a Best Picture winner as well as a Worst Picture winner in one year.

Card counting is real and is not illegal

In Rain Man, the protagonists use card counting to win big on a game of blackjack. Not only is this a real technique that it’s possible to learn, but it’s also entirely legal.


The other side of the coin is that while legal, land-based casinos will ask you to leave if they think you’re counting cards. In this case, it’s better to stick to trusted casino portals such as NewCasinos to enjoy online play instead.

Dustin Hoffman really did fart in a phone booth with Tom Cruise

Lots of classic films have scenes inspired by improvisation, rather than being based on the script. In Rain Man, the most notable example of this is when the brothers played by Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise are cooped up in a phone booth, and Hoffman actually farted.

The resultant interaction is genuine, or at least an extrapolation of how each actor felt his character would respond in this scenario, and it makes their relationship all the more believable as a result. Perhaps there’s something to the method acting technique after all?

Rain Man was a word-of-mouth hit

Looking back, it’s amazing that a heartfelt drama could be the biggest box office smash of the year, but that’s exactly what Rain Man managed, making more in ticket receipts than any of its rivals.

What’s even more surprising is that it got to this level in 1988 without a major marketing push, and without the kind of monumental opening weekend that a modern blockbuster would be expected to make.

Instead, it limped over the line with just $6 million for the first three days, and it took a long time to build up momentum, eventually making over $350 million against a modest budget of $25 million. That’s the power of word-of-mouth recommendations for you!

Airlines often edit Rain Man to show in-flight

Lots of movies are altered before being shown to passengers in planes, and usually this is down to things like bad language or graphic violence being seen as unsuitable for this setting.

However, in the case of Rain Man, the biggest cut typically comes in a scene when Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise’ characters are boarding a plane, and Hoffman’s savant lays down some very worrying figures relating to deaths caused by air travel.

Simply put, airlines don’t want passengers panicking mid-flight because of a 30 year old movie with some now largely outdated stats attached.

Obviously you can enjoy Rain Man without knowing any of these interesting facts, but they’re worth sharing with other movie buffs all the same.

Where to Watch Rain Man

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