Closing out the '80s

It's official! I have now seen every Oscar winner (in the categories that I blog about) of the 1980s! The last one that I had to see to close out the decade was Melvin And Howard, winner of the 1982 Oscars for Best Supporting Actress (Mary Steenburgen) and Best Original Screenplay (Bo Goldman). It was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor (Jason Robards).

Melvin and Howard is the story of Melvin (Paul Le Mat - the drag racer from American Graffiti), a "lovable" loser who, in the first few minutes of the film, picks up a hobo-like old man (Robards) while driving through the desert toward Las Vegas. The man claims to be eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes, though upon reaching Vegas he asks Melvin for his spare change. Melvin drifts through life for the next few years, constantly trying to regain the affections of his on-again-off-again wife (Steenburgen), only to screw it up again by trying to live beyond his means. She leaves him for good when, after she wins enough money on a game show for them to finally break even on the bills, he goes out and buys a Cadillac and a boat. After a few years have passed, Melvin sees on the news that Howard Hughes has died, and a mysterious man drops off what he claims to be Hughes's will at the gas station where Melvin works. Melvin inherits $185 million, but becomes a national laughing stock as everybody accuses him of forging the document.

This was one of the earlier films by Jonathan Demme, who went on to direct, among others, Oscar winners The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia. This was not, in my opinion, anywhere near the quality of the later films. The story drifts as aimlessly as its main character does. The characters are all, across the board, too stupid to be believed in or cared about. Melvin is apparently supposed to be a lovable loser, but his misfortune is all brought on by his own foolish behavior, much of which involves buying himself things he can't afford and doesn't need, thereby making himself unable to provide for his family. His predicaments, in a film that was supposed to be a light-hearted comedy, were more sad than funny - or would have been had I been able to bring myself to care.

Movie trivia question: I may as well go for another streak. What 2 films are the last ones that I need to see in order to close out the '90s?