Favorite underdog character from ‘Saving Private Ryan’ – Mellish.
SPOILER:
Near the ending…I can’t even watch it anymore, sometimes. One of his scenes.
Even from the beginning, you can tell he’s not well-respected. And he’s very scared.
*Soldiers hit the deck near the Captain, who asks who made it*
Mellish is ignored completely even being RIGHT THERE, and then right after that, Mellish announces himself, going pretty well unnoticed.
Why did Spielberg make a Jewish character? Don’t really know. But I do know that, while being OBVIOUSLY the most scared and overwhelmed (well, except for Oppem(?) he never leaves his fellows.
Of course you like Ryan, that’s a given. Hanks is really good. LOTS of really good.
But the best that wouldn’t get a single vote is Mellish, unless you consider gum-sharing or as a third dog tag counter.
His taunting of captured Nazis is very amusing…probably the first time some of them saw a Jew and COULDN’T kill them “just cuz”.
*Captain runs off a list of men to his Sergeant for a mission, is told one of them is dead*
*Captain seems briefly and mildly annoyed at this* “Alright, Mellish then…”
You might say, he was weak…or you could say he’s a decent man trying his best to force himself forward.