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Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) is a self-centered dealer in exotic cars. He imports high-end sports cars into the states and sells them to the highest bidder. Within the first 10 minutes, we learn that he is not above bribing the EP for the cars to pass emissions, that he treats his girlfriend poorly, and that his father has just passed away. As he goes to the reading of the will, hoping for a big payday, his father leaves him only a car. Charlie is furious to learn that more than $3 million in a trust account has gone to an anonymous person. Turns out the anonymous person is an institutionalized autistic savant named Raymond (Dustin Hoffman).

Since Raymond is a voluntary patient, Charlie organizes his discharge (for his own nefarious reasons) and the two set off on a journey to Los Angeles. Along the way, the cold and calloused Charlie warms up to Raymond, even as the autistic man has more and more difficulty in living life outside of the controlled environment of the institution. So it’s basically a road movie that tracks the change in character of Charlie from a money-hungry bastard to a caring individual. In the end, Charlie becomes less concerned with the potential money he can get from Raymond and more on the health and safety of Raymond himself. It’s a satisfying arc for Charlie. The film is widely credited as an insight into a condition (autism) that previous to 1988 wasn’t very well understood by the masses. The writing is strong, the directing excellent, and the acting top-tier.

There’s no doubt that Kevin Costner’s name has been attached to some pretty crappy projects during his career – Waterworld, The Postman, and 3000 Miles to Graceland to name a few – and it’s unfortunate, because the aforementioned dirt loafs have tarnished the fine film that we’re here to discuss, Dances With Wolves. Heck, even I had horrid recollections of the film from viewing it years ago in theaters. However, this review forced me to check the film out again and I actually found myself…enjoying it – and enjoying it immensely. What was going on here? Time has definitely been kind to Dances With Wolves – it has aged like a fine wine. However, it seems that Costner’s later career choices had clouded my memories of the film, and thankfully, I was able to watch it again to find out how wrong I have been. It’s a good thing too, as I might have deprived myself of this film forever had it not been for this review.

For such a “bad” film, it actually racked up during the 1990 Academy Awards ceremony, as Dances With Wolves took home seven Oscars (Director, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound, Score, and Editing) and had a worldwide gross of over $300 million when it was all said and done. (Heck, $300 million is a load in today’s dollars.) For a debut director, who before was only thought of as a marginally decent actor, that’s not a bad way to start a career behind the camera.