Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass are the dudes responsible for writing Rain Man. While directors tend to get a lot of the credit for a film's "vision," you've got to give up some kudos for the writers, too—and here, it was particularly important.

You see, Barry Morrow's meeting with real-life savant Kim Peek was the inspiration for the film's portrayal of Raymond, so you have to admit that Morrow must have had a pretty big impact on the movie, right?

Morrow apparently had a deep interest in the experiences of the differently-abled even before Rain Man, since he met Kim Peek while he was already attending a conference in Texas that was focused on individuals with disabilities (source).

Oh, and Rain Man wasn't the only film he wrote that focused n the topic of the differently-abled—he wrote a TV movie about a man named Bill Sackter, who spent forty-four years in a home for the mentally disabled. He and Bill Sackter were so close that Morrow even became his legal guardian (source). So, yeah, Morrow's screenwriting could get pretty personal, and he definitely had a special interest in the experiences of individuals living with special challenges.

Then we have Ronald Bass. His connection to the subject matter wasn't personal like Barry Morrow's, but his contribution? He's a total hit maker. He has been involved in tons of super buzzy and popular movies, such as Waiting to Exhale, The Joy Luck Club, My Best Friend's Wedding, Dangerous Minds... and the list doesn't stop there.

Rain Man wasn't exactly a blockbuster, but it definitely fits into that whole legacy of movies that are important with a capital I.