06-16-2019, 03:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-16-2019, 04:58 PM by TM2YC. Edited 1 time in total.)
Rain Man (1988)
Tom Cruise could not be better as Charlie, a selfish, bitter and emotionally closed off young man, who discovers his estranged unloving father has died and in a final act of spite has left his entire fortune to his other autistic savant son Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). Charlie didn't know Raymond existed and in another act of selfishness abducts him from a care home to try and get a share of the will. It's admirable how far the film is prepared to push Cruise's character into total a**hole territory before taking him and us on a journey of emotional discovery. I can't comment on the accuracy of Hoffman's portrayal of a man with Raymond's particular condition but that's not really the point, the film is more about Charlie learning to truly value Raymond as a person. I can see why this won Best Picture in '88. Another one of those great early Hans Zimmer scores help.
Welcome to New York (2014)
Although all the names are changed, Abel Ferrara's film is a seemingly accurate dramatisation of the 2011 New York Dominique Strauss-Kahn Case, in which the head of the IMF and possible future President of France was detained on rape charges (apparently he threatened to sue this film). It features a vanity-free performance from Gérard Depardieu, making himself look, sound and act as gross and repellent as possible. Ferrara's film has extra resonance following the Harvey Weinstein revelations, the parallels between the alleged M.O.s of both powerful men are clear. The dialogue has a partly improvised feel, mostly this lends authenticity but sometimes it falls awkwardly flat.
Tom Cruise could not be better as Charlie, a selfish, bitter and emotionally closed off young man, who discovers his estranged unloving father has died and in a final act of spite has left his entire fortune to his other autistic savant son Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). Charlie didn't know Raymond existed and in another act of selfishness abducts him from a care home to try and get a share of the will. It's admirable how far the film is prepared to push Cruise's character into total a**hole territory before taking him and us on a journey of emotional discovery. I can't comment on the accuracy of Hoffman's portrayal of a man with Raymond's particular condition but that's not really the point, the film is more about Charlie learning to truly value Raymond as a person. I can see why this won Best Picture in '88. Another one of those great early Hans Zimmer scores help.
Welcome to New York (2014)
Although all the names are changed, Abel Ferrara's film is a seemingly accurate dramatisation of the 2011 New York Dominique Strauss-Kahn Case, in which the head of the IMF and possible future President of France was detained on rape charges (apparently he threatened to sue this film). It features a vanity-free performance from Gérard Depardieu, making himself look, sound and act as gross and repellent as possible. Ferrara's film has extra resonance following the Harvey Weinstein revelations, the parallels between the alleged M.O.s of both powerful men are clear. The dialogue has a partly improvised feel, mostly this lends authenticity but sometimes it falls awkwardly flat.
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