I remember seeing a movie reviewer on tV (probably Michael Medved) say he wanted to strangle the kid. Of course he meant Mike Hawk the character and not David Mendenhall the actor, but I suspect it was not appreciated by the Mendenhalls.
shareHe was definitely an irritating kid.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare
It was probably because of the way he was brought up, being rich and spoiled, he never did anything for himself, he always had someone do things for him, thats why the scene where he arm wrestles the punk kid in the video arcade and beats him is very satisfying, but yeah at first he came off as annoying and irritating but towards the end, his personality changed.
shareThat's one of the reasons Christina wanted him to be with Lincoln after her passing.
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You'll Never Walk Alone
Was David Mendenhall simply not a very good child actor to begin with or was he merely doing what he was directed and scripted to do? Even back then, I thought that it was weird that he would cry so much. I get that it would make sense for him to cry over his mother's death, but even outside of that he was an extremely sensitive and prissy kid.
David Mendenhall did win Razzies for "Worst New Star" and "Worst Supporting Actor" for Over the Top for what it's worth:
https://lebeauleblog.com/2015/11/19/golden-raspberry-awards-1987/