Melvin And Howard

Yesterday, we lost one of the great American filmmakers, the very hip and cool Jonathan Demme. His direction helped Tom Hanks win his first Oscar for Philadelphia. He gave Anthony Hopkins a well deserved comeback, and Oscar win, for Silence Of The Lambs. And he helmed what many consider, myself included, one of the best concert films of all time, Stop Making Sense. And I'm only scratching the surface. A few months back I covered two of my favorites of his, Something Wild and Married To The Mob. So today I thought I would take a look back at the film that really put him on the map and gave him his first real mainstream success, 1980's Melvin And Howard.

Melvin And Howard is based on a true story about Melvin Dummar, Paul Le Mat, a not too bright, but good hearted blue collar worker who claimed that Howard Hughes, Jason Robards, left him an inheritance in his will.

What's interesting about this movie is that the Howard Hughes storyline really is just bookends to a glimpse into the life of Dummar and his highs, and mostly lows. Even though it's based on some real events, I think the movie is more about what happens with a fool and his money.

Le Mat, one of Demme's go to actors, is perfect as the foolish but likable Dummar. As is Robards as the late in life Hughes. Mary Steenburgen, in her Oscar winning performance, really shines as Dummar's long suffering first wife.

Bo Goldman, one of the all time great Hollywood scribes, wrote the screenplay. It's a really truthful character study about events that might not have been all the truthful.

This is one of Demme's best and is definitely worth seeking out. It's available on dvd.