...I find Ryan O'Neal's performance more and more painful. He was a fine dramatic actor, but just not right for comedy. Especially in the courtroom scene when he's trying to explain everything to the judge, Liam Dunn as Judge Maxwell just absolutely leaves him in the dust where it comes to delivery and timing.
He's
supposed to! The point of the courtroom scene is to show Dunn's reactions to what everyone is saying-- so the scene depends on
his comic timing much more than anyone else's. It's a showcase for that.
His pauses are the key. And I think O'Neal does his part quite well. In fact I was admiring his performance in the courtroom scene just before reading this thread.
O'Neill's character didn't understand how ridiculous he sounded and just prattled on and on, not reacting to the judge's puzzlement... I just wanted to grab O'Neill and scream, "Are you some kind of autistic savant like Rain Man who can't read human emotions?"
Hello? That's what makes it
funny! All of the details that Howard (O'Neal) recites to the judge are accurate and factual-- but to the judge, hearing them out of context, it just sounds crazier and crazier. That disconnect is the whole comic point. Howard is thinking, "Maybe if I just tell everything I know, it will sound reasonable to SOMEONE. That's my last hope!" His duty before the judge is to make sense of everything that happened-- and he's trying to understand it
himself-- so he has to just keep going,
regardless of how much the judge can comprehend. Again, THAT'S THE POINT. He's trying to be logical, the judge is trying to be logical, and yet it all falls apart. A movie like this is
driven by misunderstandings and obliviousness and the way people get themselves into trouble as a result. If every character was perfectly perceptive at all times,
where would the comedy be?
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