That, my friends, is the face of Down & Out in Beverly Hills. Nick Nolte, actor and probably-rich guy, picked up for DUI in 2002.
Even the mightiest have their issues.
Fitting, I suppose.
In this movie, Nolte plays a down on his luck homeless guy. Being homeless is one thing; having your dog leave you is another.
To end it all, he sneaks into the backyard of the Whiteman residence, loads his pockets with rocks, and jumps in the pool. His dumb luck is that Dave (Richard Dreyfus) sees him jump in, and goes in after him to save him.
From there, he more or less joins the Whiteman family. And he helps them all find themselves. I suppose the lesson is that, underneath it all, you just have you, and when you physically have nothing, you really just have you. Through time, they all see something in him, and they all find themselves through him. Which was necessary, since they were all pretty neurotic and nuts. He even teaches the dog a few tricks. He has a kind of wisdom.
It’s a pretty harmless comedy — it’s from Disney, after all. It also marks the comeback for Richard Dreyfus, after his cocaine addiction had more or less taken over his life.
