MovieChat Forums > People Like Us (2012) Discussion > Similarities to Rainman???

Similarities to Rainman???

posted 11 years ago by glendevan
11 replies | jump to latest

Anyone else notice that this forced family drama is almost a beat-for-beat rip off of the far superior Rainman, written by Ron Bass and directed by Barry Levinson?

Hmm, let's see:

- Slick sales guy with questionable moral core and cash flow/girlfriend problems. Check!

- Remote father dies unexpectedly, cutting angry son out of his inheritance. Check!

- Father even has a coveted vintage car which son inherits. Check!

- Money goes to someone else. Check!

- But wait! There's a sibling he didn't know about?! Why wasn't I told? She/he gets the money? How unfair!

- Unexpected sibling relationship develops, leading to self-examination and forced catharsis at sunset. Check!

- Piece of warmed over Hollywood hokum reaching for profundity that isn't there? Check!

C'mon Kurtzman & Porky, what do you take us for? A bunch of idiots?

[–] Yorick_Brown 11 years ago

I recognized some similarities to "Rain Man" but I wouldn't call it a rip-off.

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I hear you're movin' real fine

-Interpol

[–] gcarras 11 years ago

One HUGE thing that is missing:
No autism.

[–] nutsberryfarm 11 years ago

and judge wapner.

Where there's smoke, there's barbecue!

[–] radisha 10 years ago

and no Tapioca pudding!

[–] bottleshock34 10 years ago

And no I must fly a certain airline
enfact this film is not like rain man it may have a core outline but that's it like most films or stories they all have a similar core.
And no I didn't watch this and think this is rain man I thought this is very similar to what my half sister went through. So I showed her the film

[–] Judger 11 years ago

I thought of Rainman when I read the plot summary, but as soon as you meet the sibling that ends. It is a very different movie.

I was born in the house my father built

[–] bguy1967 11 years ago

Just saw this, my EXACT same thought...It's the same movie as "Rainman", albeit without the autism. There's even a scene where he calls his girlfriend and says he doesn't want it to be it over. Almost verbatim to a scene in Rainman where Tom Cruise calls his girlfriend after she leaves him because he's acting like an a@@hole (ahem--the same thing occurred in this movie) and he says, "I just want to know it's not over..."

[–] glendevan 11 years ago

My point exactly. It's a beat-for-beat rehash of Rainman. That's Hollywood for you. "Old wine in new skins." This is what passes for an original screenplay nowadays.

shame.

[–] mimimeme 11 years ago

I just saw this movie yesterday, and I really enjoyed it. Like you, I started making a mental list of all the similarities to Rain Man as I was watching. Whenever another similarity occurred, I'd make a quick mental comparison of the Rain Man scene just to make sure it wasn't just my imagination. It's good to know that others noticed it too.

However, this didn't detract from my enjoyment of the movie. Funny, but with all the obvious similarities, I feel this movie stood on its own, thanks to the performances of Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks. Unlike the OP, who became irritated by what he felt is a "Hollywood rip-off" to the point of distraction, I felt such empathy for both main characters and their situations, and I enjoyed the happy Hollywood ending - although there didn't appear to be any satisfactory solutions on the horizon to Sam's legal problems.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[–] Benicky 10 years ago

The relationship with his mother was a nice touch too. As far as the similarities the OP is correct but show me a movie that has not been redone. Almost every idea has been tried and the little differences more than make up for it. In Rainman they had the same parents and hiding a kid like that was common in the pre 50's era

[–] esskayess 9 years ago

I noticed the similarities throughout, but didn't overly mind them. I still found the movie enjoyable and reasonably touching