This is a film that perhaps was best seen in 1980, as it was more topical and perhaps in that context the film would seem a lot more interesting. Having seen Leonard Maltin's glowing review (and 3 1/2 stars), I was expecting some magic. Instead, I got a film that really looked like a mediocre made-for-TV movie about people I could really care less about one way or the other. As a slice of life film, it did seem pretty real--just not compelling.
The story is this--Melvin told everyone that he picked up a guy in the desert that claimed to be Howard Hughes. They sing a few songs together and then he drops him off in Vegas. Then, the next hour or more of the film is watching both Melvin and his wife, Lynda, screw up their lives again and again because they both have the wisdom and intelligence of tree shrews. Then, at the end, a mysterious stranger leaves a will--purportedly written by Hughes--leaving over $100,000,000 to Melvin. The general details are true--this guy really did claim to have met Hughes and mysteriously found the will--the rest of the story is pure conjecture. Frankly, his character seemed so dumb and short-sighted I tend to believe the will was real--someone that stupid probably couldn't even spell "Hughes"--let alone think up such a hoax! I must be pretty dumb, too, sitting through this film and ASSUMING there must be some sort of magical payoff--dream on!
The story is this--Melvin told everyone that he picked up a guy in the desert that claimed to be Howard Hughes. They sing a few songs together and then he drops him off in Vegas. Then, the next hour or more of the film is watching both Melvin and his wife, Lynda, screw up their lives again and again because they both have the wisdom and intelligence of tree shrews. Then, at the end, a mysterious stranger leaves a will--purportedly written by Hughes--leaving over $100,000,000 to Melvin. The general details are true--this guy really did claim to have met Hughes and mysteriously found the will--the rest of the story is pure conjecture. Frankly, his character seemed so dumb and short-sighted I tend to believe the will was real--someone that stupid probably couldn't even spell "Hughes"--let alone think up such a hoax! I must be pretty dumb, too, sitting through this film and ASSUMING there must be some sort of magical payoff--dream on!