On Saturday night I saw Rain Man at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in London's West End.
The play stars Hollywood's Josh Hartnett and Olivier-nominated Adam Godley, and is based on the Oscar-winning film Rain Man with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.
I found the story heartwarming. It is about two brothers; selfish and money-driven Charlie Babbit (Hartnett) who discovers his unknown autustic brother, Raymond (Godley).
Charlie takes Raymond out of his familiar surroundings and on an exciting journey which involves dancing and gambling in Las Vegas, brotherly bonding and meeting women. Charlie's self-centredness and impatience with both his brother and life begins to diminish as he learns to connect with Raymond, and later his long-suffering girlfriend Susan.
The acting and Josh Hartnett
Godley's performance as an autustic man was absolutely fantastic and totally believable. Josh Hartnett wowed the appreciating audience (well, the female majority anyway) with his chiselled cheekbones and toned body.
Although Hartnett's acting was of a high standard, you could see that the actor is from a movie background rather than theatre.
Mostly towards the beginning of the play he spoke very quickly and quietly and we often had trouble understanding his lines, despite the fact that we were sitting near the stage.
He also stumbled on his words more than once, but managed to quickly recover.
The play stars Hollywood's Josh Hartnett and Olivier-nominated Adam Godley, and is based on the Oscar-winning film Rain Man with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.
I found the story heartwarming. It is about two brothers; selfish and money-driven Charlie Babbit (Hartnett) who discovers his unknown autustic brother, Raymond (Godley).
Charlie takes Raymond out of his familiar surroundings and on an exciting journey which involves dancing and gambling in Las Vegas, brotherly bonding and meeting women. Charlie's self-centredness and impatience with both his brother and life begins to diminish as he learns to connect with Raymond, and later his long-suffering girlfriend Susan.
The acting and Josh Hartnett
Godley's performance as an autustic man was absolutely fantastic and totally believable. Josh Hartnett wowed the appreciating audience (well, the female majority anyway) with his chiselled cheekbones and toned body.
Although Hartnett's acting was of a high standard, you could see that the actor is from a movie background rather than theatre.
Mostly towards the beginning of the play he spoke very quickly and quietly and we often had trouble understanding his lines, despite the fact that we were sitting near the stage.
He also stumbled on his words more than once, but managed to quickly recover.
Overall view of Rain Man
Apart from this faux-pas though, the play falls was faultless. There was one particularly heart-rendering scene where Charlie teaches his autistic brother Raymond to dance. There were also many humourous moments throughout the duration of the story.
I would describe this play as humourous, interesting and sweet. However, although touching, it did not completely move me as this genre of story usually would.
Were it not for Josh Hartnett, I am not sure I would see this play again given the opportunity.
Rating: 6/10
Rain Man is showing at Apollo Theatre until December 20th, 2008. For details and bookings, visit Apollo Theatre.
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