The other night, I decided to watch Rain Man after close to a decade. It comes with my subscription to HBO Max, and I didn’t realize how effectively the movie began. It truly does an amazing job of conveying exposition in a way that feels natural.

Within the first fifteen minutes, we learn so much about Charlie (Tom Cruise’s Character), and how he is related to Raymond (Dustin Hoffman’s character), and it never feels overwhelming for an audience member!

Sometimes, I read scripts where a character tells their entire backstory leading up to this moment and beginning with a phrase like “as you may know” or “C’mon *name*, do you remember the time when we did that *specific thing*. Back in *specific time*, you know. Isn’t it so weird that this coincidently is relevant to what’s happening right now, isn’t it *name*?!”

I’m exaggerating in the last example, but sometimes writers convey information through dialogue that is unfortunately very similar to that. It’s what many call an “information dump”, and it’s usually terribly boring.

The Harbor Scene and Charlie’s Business

Rain Man displays an effective technique to avoid this: reveal exposition quickly and in a way that is relevant to the story’s conflict. In the opening image of Rain Man, we see a cherry-red 1980s Lamborghini slowly glide across the frame, being carried by a harbor crane. It’s lowered next to four other supercars, and we see Charlie, dressed in an expensive-looking grey suit, schmoozing import officers as they take record of the cars’ arrival.

Charlie leaves in a grey Ferrari afterward, and in the next scene he is arguing with someone over the phone about EPA regulations and because his cars came in later than expected. He shouts that, if he does not get these card’s registered for the road, he is going belly up and will lose the cars. They are collateral for a loan.

Further, Lewis (Ralph Seymour), one of his employees, tells him two of his biggest clients are planning on bailing on his order. Tom tells him to lie about the EPA reports, saying they have been approved, and that because the two clients have “patiently” waited for their orders, he is going to take off $5,000 for each car they order, saving the deal.

From all of this information, which occurs within the span of five minutes, we learn that he is a smooth-talking, super-car salesman who runs his own business. We also learn that he is someone who does not like to be out of control and will do anything in his power to keep his ship afloat, even if it means lying to his customers. In other words, he knows what to say, but he only cares about the well-being of himself and doesn’t care much about his relationship to others if there is nothing in it for him.

How Charlie Meets Raymond

We see similar moments when his father, Sanford Babbitt, only leaves Charlie his rose bushes and his pristine Buick convertible, which Charlie has been forced to know everything about since his youth and was the cause of the two characters’ rocky relationship. The lawyer tells Charlie that the rest of Sanford’s estate has been left to an unknown trustee, causing Charlie to go on a journey to retrieve his father’s money. Charlie believes that he deserves this money so he goes to his father’s bank and finds information there, after smooth-talking again.

A moment later, he is driving his father’s car to an institution in the countryside. He asks someone if this location is Wallbrook, and we find out that the man he is asking has Down syndrome, based on the appearance of his face. This continually pushes to learn that Wallbrook is a mental health hospital and later leads Charlie to meet his brother Raymond, an autistic savant whom Charlie did not know existed until this point. The fact that someone who does not understand money inherits 3 million dollars creates interesting irony and also conveys more information about Charlie and Sanford’s relationship.

Each story beat feels like a surprise, which is a quality of any well-told story, and it displays an incredibly effective way to convey exposition that is necessary to the story and does not bore the audience.

All in all, if you are looking for a critically acclaimed film that ends wholesomely and is masterfully told, study this one. You won’t regret it.

Let me know what y’all think about Rain Man; I’ll be looking at the comment section.