Melvin and Howard

Melvin and Howard (1980) is a comedy-drama directed by Jonathan Demme — watch it online on iFILM. Paul Le Mat plays Melvin Dummar, an ordinary Nevada worker who once picked up a battered old man on a desert highway. The man claimed to be Howard Hughes. Jason Robards plays Hughes, and Mary Steenburgen won an Academy Award for her role as Melvin's wife Lynda.

Years after that night on the road, Hughes dies — and a handwritten will surfaces leaving Melvin $156 million. Whether the document is genuine or a fantasy is almost beside the point; what matters is watching Melvin navigate a world that has always treated him as a footnote. Demme keeps the tone light without mocking his characters, a balance few directors manage.

The film works as a comedy of American optimism: a man whose luck runs mostly bad suddenly holds a ticket that might be worthless, and yet he can't help believing. Stream Melvin and Howard (1980) on iFILM.