Melvin und Howard (1980)

Melvin und Howard: Directed by Jonathan Demme. With Jason Robards, Paul Le Mat, Elizabeth Cheshire, Mary Steenburgen. The story of hard-luck Melvin E. Dummar, who claimed to have received a will naming him an heir to the fortune of Howard Hughes.

“Bottom line:u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eNot terrible, not wonderful.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eGood:u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu003culu003eu003cliu003eEffects (not saying much as most effects these days are believable)u003c/liu003eu003cliu003eBest actor in the film was the little Cambodian kid. He had a couple of scenes which genuinely pulled at my heartstrings.u003c/liu003eu003c/ulu003eu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBad:u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu003culu003eu003cliu003eWhiny, strident, screeching, 2-dimensional characters played by actors who think that hyperventilating is the best way to convey fear, excitement, and nearly every other emotion.u003c/liu003eu003c/ulu003eu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu003culu003eu003cliu003eI didnu0026#39;t care if anyone of them died. In fact, I was rooting for the robot to clean house and just blow them away.u003c/liu003eu003c/ulu003eu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu003culu003eu003cliu003eSome of the u0026quot;actingu0026quot; felt really forced and try-hard, like a 9-year-old was trying to impress their parents with a dramatic reenactment of what they saw an amateur do on TV.u003c/liu003eu003c/ulu003eu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIu0026#39;ve noticed this trend in recent movies – this forced kind of acting, even in huge budget movies like the most recent Star Wars installments. Take note of how many times the actors hyperventilate when they are afraid, excited or just trying to talk to someone. Forced and one-note.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf you want examples of fear expressed wonderfully, watch Ripley in Aliens when she first discovers the queen, or the scene when Tom Cruise pulls off his mask in the middle of a gigantic room full of menacing masked onlookers in Eyes Wide Shut. These are great examples of believable fear emoted without having a damned asthma attack.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI feel like writers and actors of today donu0026#39;t understand nuance or subtlety. Itu0026#39;s all over-the-top popcorn variety schlock. Just fill the screen with screaming meat targets and that should be enough to make the audience to feel sorry for them when they die.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThey think the way to invoke tension is by directing actors to shriek and shout at everything when things get a little tense. They donu0026#39;t know how to balance it out with some humor or downtime.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMillennial writers and actors could learn a lot from old school classics to learn how to better their craft and make characters relatable and even likeable.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMovie wasnu0026#39;t terrible, but this trend of mediocre acting doesnu0026#39;t help the its rating.”