> Hi Diane,
>
> I actually watched Oscar for the first time a couple of weeks ago. For the first half hour or
> so, I thought Stallone's acting would prove so unendurable that I'd be forced to quit and go
> read a book instead, or something. But about mid-way through the film, I really began to enjoy
> it, and it made me laugh out loud several times.
>
> Except for Rocky, of course, and arguably Cliffhanger, Stallone's deficit in acting ability
> has been a great regret for me, especially since I think the man's face has the potential for real
> expressiveness and even tragedy, if he could only make it convincing. Even in Oscar, although he
> had adopted a decent persona for his character, he didn't appear to have any real sense of comic
> timing. He actually seemed to begin each line after a half pause, kind of like: "Okay, here
> comes my line! Everybody ready for this?"
>
> I like Stallone; I just wished I could also appreciate his skill at his chosen profession.
> On an unrelated note, I also wondered whether Oscar began life as a stage production. The unity
> of place and time (classic marks of theater drama) and the general nature of the comedy seemed to be
> well-suited for the stage.
>
> Once I figured out that the gangster characters in Oscar were going to be about as threatening as
> Cher's biker gang pals in Mask, and were actually SUPPOSED to be acting like nice folks that you'd
> like to hang around with, I was able to loosen up and enjoy the movie. I don't know whether all
> this places me in the category of those who like the movie or those who don't. It was good for
> some laughs, but I probably won't watch it again. My apologies if you're a big fan and find this
> review overly harsh. :-)
>
> Regards,
> Iss

I wish to announce that upon a second viewing of Oscar (just now, in my hotel room), I've changed my mind. It's a very good comedy, great fun to watch, and Stallone's performance was not at all deficient. My apologies to any and all fans of Oscar who rightly deemed me to be a world-class doofus after my original disparaging post about the film.

Iss "we now return you to your regularly scheduled message thread" achar