The 3-Act Paradigm at Work: Rain Man

written by Ronald Bass and Barry Morrow


Rain Man is a lovely story about an emotionally closed young man who learns he has an older brother, who is an idiot savant, and who learns a lesson about caring and love from him. It is a great movie to study for the arc of the protagonist and the hero's growth.

Structural Analysis

  1. Hook (1 min.)
    • From the get-go, we learn that Charlie Babbitt is in deep trouble with his car business. We see him lying and stalling for time in order to save his business.
  2. Complication (4 min.)
    • As he is off to Palm Springs with his girlfriend, who believes that he is "never there" for her, his car phone gives the message that his father has died. Charlie feels almost nothing: they were not close.
  3. Call to Action (17 min.)
    • Getting almost nothing in the will (an old car and some rose bushes), Charlie learns that he has an older brother, Raymond, who lives in an institution - and it is the brother who has inherited three million dollars. Charlie schemes to use Raymond to secure his half of the inheritance.
  4. Act I Plot Point (33 min.)
    • Charlie takes Raymond with him, and he won't return him to the institution unless he gets his half. His girlfriend leaves him - "You're using everybody" - but Charlie sticks to his guns, and the two brothers begin a road trip back to L.A. while Charlie waits for the institution to give in to his demands.
  5. Midpoint Plot Point (69 min.)
    • Charlie learns that Raymond is the "rain man" of his childhood, which Charlie had believed was an imaginary childhood character. He also has learned that Raymond is something of a genius with numbers.
  6. Act II Plot Point (93 min., 110 min., 112 min.)
    • There are two Act Two plot points, one driving the plot and one driving the protagonist's character arc. In the first one, Raymond tells a hooker that they've been "counting cards" during a winning spree in Las Vegas, where a stop on the way to L.A. has bailed Charlie out of his financial crisis. Later, Charlie turns down a quarter-million check from the institution and decides he wants Raymond in his life: "It's not about money any more." But shortly there after he learns that Raymond cannot be left uncared for when the savant instigates a kitchen smoke-alarm emergency. Charlie is going to have to give him up, for Raymond's own good - not for money.
  7. Resolution (122-7 min.)
    • But Charlie and Raymond have made a connection as brothers. They touch heads to express it. Charlie will visit him often - and Raymond is already being influenced by his brother, learning that "K-Mart sucks."

Notes

Rain Man benefits from an unusual and likeable supporting character, Raymond. Brilliantly performed by Dustin Hoffman, Raymond lights up the screen whenever he appears. However, he is not the main character - just essential to the plan of the main character. And also the vehicle by which the main character grows emotionally.

This story also is filled with charming moments, such as Raymond and Charlie's girlfriend dancing in the elevator, where Raymond experiences his first kiss with a woman: "It's wet."

But notice how the hook immediately creates a situation that drives the plot, almost a ticking clock from the start, within which structure a quieter and touching human story is allowed to evolve.


MODULE 4: SCREENWRIGHT: the craft of screenwriting

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