Best Actor in a Leading Role...TOM CRUISE

Shame on the Academy for not recognising the brilliance of Cruise in this film.

OP, Dustin Hoffman is NOT an autistic savant. Have you ANY idea how much effort it takes to pull one off convincingly??

And as for Leo's performance in Gilbert Grape, that was convincing too, but I'd say they're about the same level.

I agree with the OP. Not to take anything away from Hoffman, who was brilliant in Rain Man, but I don't think it's as difficult to talk in a funny voice and act "partial retard" (to borrow an expression from Tropic Thunder) as it is to be a "normal person" with the complicated insecurities and bitterness that Tom Cruise's character exhibits. Don't get me wrong, Hoffman's character is far more entertaining, but it's basically one-level through the whole movie, whereas Cruise's character is more multi-faceted. We get to see who he is on the surface, what he feels inside but doesn't talk about, how he feels about finding out he has a brother, how he interacts with his brother, how he interacts with his girlfriend, how he feels about his father and his death, how he handles his business being in trouble, how he interacts with Dr. Brunner, etc. ...We get to know the complexities of Cruise's character so much more than Hoffman's, which is why Cruise's performance is so underrated. We take it for granted that he's being a "normal person" which is why his performance goes so unnoticed. ...Just my opinion

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Agree, Raymond was an easy character to play. Hoffman probably knows himself that he did not pull off a great acting performance. He simply was very good at playing a cute, entertaining character.

Had Cruise not done so well on his part, the whole movie and Raymond's character might not have looked so good.


Other better performances in mentally handicapped (aka "retard") roles:

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump
Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot
Tugg Speedman in Simple Jack

Both absolute fantastic performances; but I think Cruise was better and his character had more to him and he played the role of the prick to absolute
perfection. I also thought his character was a lot more complex and interesting and diverse etc. Hoffmann played the simpleton; Cruise played much more!

Tom's character did a complete transformation also; but even though he became compassionate and caring and understanding, he still held on to his arrogant and cocky traits. That's why I say Tom's character had more to him and was harder to complete!

Tom Cruise hate is stupid, he can really do a great job and at the age of 26 he knocked it out of the park with rain man, the character is so complex and changed as a person by the end of the film.His character is the center of the film and by finding his brother, he is able to deal with past issues and current problems to get balance in his life and become the good person he always was inside.Wonderful performance really, I love Hoffman but Cruise did get screwed over with no nod because he really did seem to put so much work into the part and to hold your own against Dustin is something.

I have always thought that Cruise got the shaft at the Oscars that year. But Hoffman definitely deserved the win. Cruise should've been nominated.