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DVD Details
- Rated: R
- Closed captioning available
- Run Time: 1 hours, 35 minutes
- Video: Color
- Encoding: Region 1 (USA & Canada)
- Released: March 2, 2004
- Originally Released: 1980
- Label: Universal Studios
Performers, Cast and Crew:
Starring | Paul Le Mat, Mary Steenburgen & Jason Robards | |
Performer: | Jack Kehoe, Charles Napier, Dabney Coleman, Brendan Kelly, Martine Beswick, John Glover, Pamela Reed & Michael J. Pollard | |
Featured: | Kathleen Sullivan | |
Directed by | Jonathan Demme | |
Edited by | Craig McKay | |
Screenwriting by | Bo Goldman | |
Composition by | Bruce Langhorne | |
Director of Photography: | Tak Fujimoto |
Major Awards:
Academy Awards 1980 -
Best Original Screenplay: Bo Goldman
Academy Awards 1980 -
Best Supporting Actress: Mary Steenburgen
Entertainment Reviews:
Shambling yet delicate, Demme's screwball tall tale gazes at TV contests and novelty ballads and sees not derisive kitsch but the warm connective tissue of human yearning
Full Review
CinePassion
Everything is all right really -- it tells us -- as long as there are good guys like Melvin to add a little human decency and a touch of naive fun to the great game show of life. I found this melancholy, however, rather than inspiring.
Full Review
The Spectator
Rating: A- --
Delightful in the affection it shows for its characters.
Full Review
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Rating: 3.5/4 --
Robards is a chillingly effective Hughes. But this movie belongs to Paul Le Mat, as Dummar.
Full Review
Chicago Sun-Times
Rating: 2/4 --
A limp biopic with wooden performances and an uninteresting premise.
Full Review
Cinema Sight
Included in the New York Times 10 BEST FILMS OF 1980
New York Times
Rating: 5/5 --
Some great, reverberant moments.
Full Review
eFilmCritic.com
Product Description:
Director Jonathan Demme (SILENCE OF THE LAMB) made a critical breakthrough with this film. It's based on the true story of Melvin Dummar (Paul Le Mat), an affable all-American loser whose miserable luck changes when he gives a ride to eccentric Howard Hughes (superbly played by Jason Robards) after finding him asleep in the Nevada desert. Following an extended opening scene of their journey to Vegas, the film dives into Melvin's messed-up trailer-park existence, which involves an unhappy wife (Mary Steenburgen), devoted daughter (Elizabeth Cheshire), and a string of thankless blue-collar jobs. Melvin turns out to be a crackpot dreamer, but his dreams seem to come true when he's named recipient of fellow crackpot Hughes' fortune in a mysterious hand-written will. The film flows as a stream of sharp comic moments via Demme's deft direction and affection for his characters. A nicely gritty look is achieved through Tak Fujimoto's photography at actual locations. A letter-perfect cast includes Dummar himself as a bus station attendant and Dabney Coleman as a Mormon judge. Bo Goldman (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST) wrote the award-winning screenplay.
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Product Info
- Sales Rank: 29,246
- UPC: 025192418921
- Shipping Weight: 0.25/lbs (approx)
- International Shipping: 1 item