Rain Man

Transferring Rain Man to the stage was always going to be a challenge. Not because it’s difficult to stage, but because it has to compete against one of the best films ever made. I’m not a fan of Tom Cruise, but unquestionably his performance in Rain Man (the movie) was one of his best. Nevertheless, Josh Hartnett (playing the Cruise role) has a Hollywood reputation and so I rolled up at the Apollo in Shaftesbury Avenue expecting to be challenged with a new interpretation of the Barry Morrow story. I was disappointed. Not because Harnett has no stage presence (he doesn’t), but simply because it was a straight facsimile of the film. I was expecting a contemporary interpretation of a twenty year old film, whereas I got a replay with the only changes being reference to modern day current affairs (Osama Bin Laden) and TV (Judge Judy).

Hartnett’s performance lacked gravitas, his projection was poor and his acting somewhat wooden. There was nothing like the veiled nastiness Cruise exuded in the film, Hartnett was far more overt. By contrast, Adam Godley, playing the autistic savant Raymond was excellent. Sad, yet sprinkled with humour and warmth. Also, the stage set was very well done, not distracting from the character development and interplay. The production seemed to move from scene to scene without really building the relationship between the brothers, and it wasn’t until towards the end that is started to sense any emotion.

All in all, a pleasant enough evening, but my expectations were not met. Which I guess just goes to prove how great the original film was. Cruise and Hoffman are on my list to watch again at the weekend.